Before I Met You
by Joyie
Summary: Okay, so I can't say that making a bet against my ex-boyfriend about who could become the better farmer was the most mature thing for me to do, but in hindsight it probably was one of the best decisions I've ever made. T - for language and themes.
1. The Catalyst

**Note from the Author:** I don't own Harvest Moon or any of these wonderful characters etc blahblahboringdisclaimershizz. This is my first fan-fiction, so please be gentle with me! Honesty is appreciated; but please don't be so snarky that you kill of all my muses.

_Hope you enjoy._

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

_The Catalyst_

I loved my life before.

It was wonderfully simple, easy and carefree. I went to my lectures at university, hung out with my friends and when I was home I would bum around my flat playing games or surfing the internet. I was a relatively ordinary girl with a cushy life that I took for granted. But one day in Winter everything changed. The cosy, warm reality that I had become accustomed to came crumbling down all around me.

All because of that jerk.

The jerk in question is my ex-boyfriend, Mark.

Mark and I had pretty much been childhood sweethearts. We grew up together as neighbours and had started dating in middle school. He was my first for pretty much every landmark girls aspire to in relationships; first date, first boyfriend, first kiss, first... yeah, you get the picture. I was actually expecting us to get engaged after university, but then 'it' happened.

I refer to the event as 'it' because it stings less than calling it more appropriate names of 'train wreck', 'disaster' or, more fittingly, 'the end'.

"Chelsea, we need to talk," he said to me casually as he strode into the university cafeteria at lunch break. We had both just finished our lectures and like we did every lunch time we met up at the corner table with our friends Trent, Ellie and Skye. It had been raining that day and his clothes were soaked from dashing across campus.

"What's up?" I asked him as he dumped his bag down on the table and sat across from me.

He glanced at Trent and Ellie and they hastily picked up their trays and left the table, knowing that we were about to have one of those serious talks that needed to be done in private. Skye, being completely oblivious to the situation, remained next to me eating his curry as if nothing was wrong.

"Skye, could you... er... leave for a bit?" Mark asked awkwardly. He grimaced when he saw me look in Ellie and Trent's direction in alarm. They looked back at me worriedly and I thought I saw a flash of pity in Ellie's brown eyes.

The warning bells began ringing and I turned back to Mark suspiciously. "What's going on?"

Skye, finally realising that he was about to witness my emotional assassination, which they apparently all knew about before even I did, finally picked up his tray and went to sit over with the others. The smell of curry followed him and I felt a gut-wrenching queasiness take a hold of me as he left.

"God this is awkward," Mark began, fiddling with his fingers and thumbs nervously. "I don't know where to even start."

I grew impatient. "Just say it, will you? You know I hate this stalling shit you do whenever you've done something wrong and you're about to admit it to me."

Mark looked up, his big green eyes filled with remorse and anxiety as he stared at me. Oh those big green eyes... they'd been the subject of so many of my teenage fantasies. They're the exact same shade of green as the sun dappled leaves you'd see if you stand under an oak tree on a sunny day. Expressive, honest and absolutely gorgeous, they are my favourite thing about him. But at that moment exact moment they made me want to punch him.

"Did you cheat on me?" I asked him angrily, putting down my spoon and clenching my hands into fists in preparation to sock him in the mouth. His eyes flickered down to my fists warily for a moment before they came back to meet mine.

"No. I did not cheat on you. There's no danger of that," he told me.

"Well what is it?" I asked.

"I'm going to drop out of university," he said.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Is that all?"

"No."

I frowned. "Oh flippin' heck, just tell me would you!"

"I'm dropping out of university and going into agriculture. I'm moving out to Zephyr, since my grandfather's giving me his farm out there and they're in dire need of a local farmer. I made the decision a while ago but I wasn't sure how to tell you about it since I know you were dead set on living in the city after graduating."

I blinked at him in confusion for a moment as this information sunk in. He had rendered me completely speechless. When I finally found my voice all I could say was, "Huh?"

"I'm leaving, Chelsea," Mark reiterated, his eyes falling to his hands. He couldn't bear to see the hurt in my eyes. Or was it my rage? I can't really remember what expression I was pulling at that moment. It was most likely a strange combination of both which probably wasn't very pretty.

"So, let me get this straight," I said. "You're going to drop out of university; the university that we both chose specifically so we could study together; and you're going to become a farmer. Not only that, but you're moving to Zephyr, which is on the other side of the country, and you're going to work on your grandfather's dilapidated shit pile of a farm."

"Yes," he replied with a nod. He nervously glanced up at me and then his eyes widened in panic as he saw the look on my face.

I was absolutely livid.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" I shouted across at him with full volume, causing people on the neighbouring tables to jump and look round at us. He flinched back a fraction. "Do I not factor into the equation at all? Did you not think to ask me if I wanted to come with you or not? Or did you, like always, assume I wouldn't be interested and decided to exclude me without even checking?"

"You know you're not the type of girl to rough it out on a farm..." Mark began to say, but trailed off as I rose from my seat.

The chair clattered noisily behind me and I could hear the mutters and whispers of other the lunch-time diners. The smell of cafeteria food surrounded me, suffocated me, and I felt a tingling feeling run up the length of my nose as my vision blurred. I saw memories of our relationship flashing through my mind like a movie montage: Fighting with him as kids. Competing with him at just about everything; getting told off by our parents together; walking hand in hand with him on the way to primary school; watching television with him in the early afternoon; our first date at the cinema; our first kiss under the tree in the backyard; the first time we slept together; and then, the first time he told me he loved me.

It all came rushing through my mind like an express train, and hit me just as hard. It was over; he had no intention of bringing me with him to Zephyr. He was leaving me there. Alone.

Back then, the thought of being alone scared me the most.

"My boyfriend is dumping me so he can run off and become a farmer," I muttered to myself, my voice breaking. I ignored Mark as I stared up at the grey ceiling off the cafeteria. Something wet rolled down my cheeks.

"Chelsea..." Mark said. He said something else, but I barely heard him.

"Have fun fucking sheep, you selfish git," I said through sobs, before fleeing the cafeteria as quickly as I could.

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><p>"Chelsea, let me in," I heard another girl's voice call me through my dorm room door. It was Ellie.<p>

"Ellie, just leave me alone right now," I called to her from under my bed sheets. "I don't want you to see me like this."

"Don't be silly, let me in. I've got some meds for you," Ellie said, her voice lowering as she said 'meds'.

Being the daughter of parents that owned a pharmaceutical company, Ellie had access to a whole cocktail of pills and potions that doctors used. While really I knew that she shouldn't have been abusing such privileges, especially since she was training to be a nurse, I couldn't help but be grateful that she could get hold of things such as sleeping pills and anti-depressants at the drop of a hat. Though, of course, it would forever remain a secret between her and me since Trent would have killed her if he found out.

I hurried to the door and let her in quickly, my eyes lingering on the clear plastic bag with an orange plastic bottle of pills in it. She grinned at me and chucked them at me as I clambered back into bed and sullenly fell back onto my pillow.

"He's a jerk," I said, reading the label of the pills. "What on earth is this?"

"Anti-depressants," Ellie said, flicking her long brown hair over her shoulder. "It's the same stuff my mom uses."

Hearing this made me hesitate slightly. Ellie's mother was like the human energizer bunny and it only occurred to me then that these pills were probably the reason why. Clutching the bag to my chest I smiled weakly up at her and said, "Thanks. I'll take them later."

"Yeah, only take them when you've got a day off from lectures. They make you conk out for about 18 hours the first time you take one," Ellie said with a warm smile. "I even checked with Trent about them, he says they're fine for you to use, considering your... condition."

"You make it sound like I'm a leper," I replied half jokingly. I dropped the plastic bag on my bed side table and put my hands behind my head. "I look like shit, don't I?"

"It's hardly surprising," Ellie said with a grimace as she took a seat on the bed and put her hand against my forehead gently. "You've got a bit of a fever. Was it really that much of a shock to you?"

"His life aspiration went from studying Sports Science to farming in the middle of nowhere. I think that would shock anyone," I replied. "What really gets me is that he never told me about it. I'm meant to be his best friend. Now, I just feel like I've just wasted eleven years of emotional energy for nothing."

"You didn't waste anything Chelsea. You still learned from it, right? And who knows, maybe Mark will come crawling back to you when he realises it's too much hard work living and working on a farm by himself," Ellie consoled.

"Even if he did, I don't think I'd take him back." I tugged a lock of Ellie's hair gently. "You better not cut this hair of yours again. You look like a dork with short hair."

"Stop changing the subject," Ellie said with a frown.

I sighed and my hand dropped lifelessly to the bed again.

"I don't know what I'm meant to do anymore," I began, my voice going slightly higher in pitch as I struggled to keep down a fresh wave of tears. "I had built my whole life plans around him. We would graduate together, move in together, probably get married... Everything was just so stable. I like knowing what my life is going to look like in the future. I like predictability. Now I don't know what I'm going to do with my life now that he's not in it. I feel really lonely just thinking about it."

"Do you _really_ like predictability though, Chels?" Ellie asked. "You've never actually done something for the hell of it the way Mark always has. You've always been careful and planned things and thought things through before you do it. How do you know if you like having stability in your life when you haven't even tried throwing caution to the wind?"

"I don't know _how_ to throw caution to the wind. Sorry, it's in my nature to over analyse things and plan for the future," I mumbled. "As my old history teacher used to say, 'Fail to plan, plan to fail.'"

"You're nineteen; you're beautiful, smart and single. You can do anything you want with your life, sweetheart," Ellie said with a grin. "Stop over analysing and just do. Act on impulse. Live a little."

I buried my face into my bed covers. "I'd prefer to stew in my own misery and rage."

"Look, come out with me and Skye later. We're going down to the student union bar and we'll get some drinks and chill out, okay? Mark won't be invited of course," Ellie said, stroking the top of my head as I jokingly pretended to smother myself.

"What about Trent?" I asked, turning to look at her.

"He's busy working. Like always," Ellie replied dully. "I mean, it's understandable. He's studying to be a doctor, so I can't really complain."

"At least he won't run off to the other side of the country to become a farmer," I said, pushing myself upright. "When he's finished with his course he'll be able to be more attentive, surely."

"Yeah, thank god he's in his last year," Ellie said with a smile. "He's a great boyfriend really. I'm really glad you went up to him that night in the bar. I never would have done it myself."

I laughed. "Sure you could have. But I guess it was a little easier for me since I already had a boyfriend at the time. You should have seen Mark's face when he saw me going over to Trent though; it was a picture."

"Mark still loves you, you know," Ellie told me.

"I doubt it. If he did, he wouldn't have made this decision without consulting me first. He had no intention of bringing me, Ellie. That much is clear," I replied, tearing up again. "After six years of dating, he really doesn't care about me. You'd think he'd ask me about something this big if he really cared about me."

"Maybe it was too difficult?" Ellie offered with a grimace when she saw the face I pulled in response.

"Difficult? As if! He's been laughing and joking this whole time and never hinted at it to me. I bet he's known about it for months. And really, how is he going to survive as a farmer? A farmer!" I exclaimed, pounding my hands on my bed angrily. Ellie jumped in surprise. "What does he know about farming and agriculture? The man doesn't even know how to make his own goddamn breakfast in the morning, let alone how to raise livestock and irrigate the land! I would make a better farmer than he would!"

"Well why don't you then?" Ellie asked. Her expression was completely serious.

I scoffed. "What? No way. I know I could be a better farmer, but there's no way I'm dropping out of university for _that_."

"It was just a suggestion," Ellie said with a shrug. "I reckon you could do it, and it's not like your anthropology degree is going to help you find a job much, considering how screwed up the economy is. Lots of graduates today are having a hard time finding jobs you know."

"Even so," I replied, frowning at the idea of me becoming a farmer. "Farming is so far removed from what I pictured myself doing with my life."

"And that's exactly why you should consider doing it," Ellie said with a grin, pulling my covers up over my head playfully.


	2. Challenge

**Note from the Author:** I don't own Harvest Moon or any of these wonderful characters etc blahblahboringdisclaimershizz. I apologise if Skye seems a bit OoC! I tried my best with him!

Nice comments and things are appreciated! 

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>__

_Challenge_

The student union bar was surprisingly noisy that night. The bar was split on two-levels, with tables and chairs dotted all over the place on the upper level while the bottom was dominated by the bar and a make shift dance floor. The lights were dimmed and soft rock blasted across the split levelled room making it difficult to hold a conversation without having to shout.

"We should really get Griff to turn this shit down!" I yelled over the noise as someone jostled me from behind, trying to get to his friends on the other side of the room.

"I'm beginning to regret choosing this place," Ellie hollered as she crammed past a bunch of rowdy Media Studies students who were rip-roaringly drunk already. She handed me and Skye our drinks before sitting herself down in her chair and letting out a sigh of relief. "It's a mad house down at the bar," she complained as Skye proceeded to down his drink. "What the hell, slow down, I'm not going back down there any time soon!"

Skye eyed her over the rim of his glass. "Don't worry; I'll go get the next round. I saw a gorgeous looking blonde head down there just a minute ago."

Ellie and I glanced at each other wearily. Skye was a bit of a heart breaker. Which was surprising considering the fact that the man strutted around in leather pants and wore leopard print t-shirts like he was a throwback from the 1980s. And apparently women loved it; they thought he looked like a rock star. I, on the other hand, thought he just looked camp.

"You really ought to keep your dick in your pants tonight," I said with a disapproving glance.

Skye grinned at me. "Well since you're a free agent now, you can keep me company if you like."

"No thanks, I'll pass," I said with what probably looked like a half-smile, half-grimace. "As much as I love you, it's only as a friend."

"Shame," Skye said with a shrug, though judging from the way he was eyeing up every woman in the bar I guessed that he wasn't that bothered by it.

"I was trying to talk Chelsea into become a farmer earlier," Ellie said, trying to change the subject as she sensed my mood dampening. "Don't you think she'd make a good farmer?"

Skye nearly choked on his drink. "What? Chelsea? A farmer?" He threw his head back and laughed.

"What's wrong with me being a farmer?" I asked darkly.

"You're too much of a princess to be a farmer, sweetheart," he said to me, tapping me on the nose with one of his long pale fingers. I was tempted to bite it, but I resisted the urge since it would probably turn him on more than anything.

"Anything Mark can do, I can do better," I replied huffily. "He doesn't even know how to do his own laundry for heaven's sakes."

"Of course, that's what women are for," Skye replied with a sly smile.

Ellie smacked him around the back of the head. "Don't be a bigot."

"Okay, okay," Skye said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I take it back. Chelsea, you would make a fine farmer - especially with those gorgeously legs of yours."

"I don't see what my legs have to do with anything," I replied, my expression deadpan as he laughed.

"I can just imagine you running around a farm in a pair of tiny shorts and wellies," Skye said as he cocked his head to one side as he considered me. "It's quite enough to get me hot and bothered actually. I'm convinced you should do it now."

"I wouldn't become a farmer to attract guys," I said stiffly. "I'd be doing it to show up Mark."

"You wouldn't do it for yourself?" Ellie asked.

"Why would I? I could easily become a journalist or a writer here and live a far more comfortable life," I said with a shrug before I noticed the way Skye was tilting to one side so he could look under the table. I was wearing a miniskirt that night and it showed off my legs quite nicely. Realising that he was staring at my legs, I kicked him in the shin and pointed my finger at him reprovingly. "Oi! No."

"I'm just looking," Skye replied innocently. He ran a hand through his silver hair, which was a genetic anomaly apparently, before turning to Ellie and asking, "Where's your lover-boy then? You're looking almost as forlorn as Chelsea is."

"He's busy studying," Ellie said, shifting uncomfortably and looking at Skye angrily. "Something which you don't do, evidently."

"I only went to university to please my parents," Skye said with a defensive shrug, looking slightly narked that Ellie had taken a jab at his lack of scholastic aptitude. He had failed one of his modules the year before and had been forced to do a retake a couple of times. "They insisted I come here, even though academia really isn't my thing. I'd much prefer to do something a bit more exciting than sticking my head in a book the way Trent-o-dent does."

"Stop calling him that! He's a doctor, not a dentist," Ellie said, playfully punching Skye on the arm. Then something caught her eye and she glanced up towards the doorway of the bar. Her face fell.

Looking around, I felt my heart leap in my chest as I spotted Mark entering the bar with some of his Sport Science classmates. Dressed in black, he didn't look at all torn up about the fact that we had pretty much just broken up. In fact, he looked pretty damn good. Fury and desire overwhelmed me and my grip tightened around my drink. When he saw me he froze and looked like he was about to turn tail and run away, but he shrugged off the urge and wandered over to me. I instinctively turned away from him. I didn't want to face him yet. I was still beside myself with anger.

"Chelsea, look-" he began, but I cut him off by kicking him in the shin when he got near enough.

"Don't talk to me, you twot," I snapped. "I don't care about what you have to say."

"Please just-" he began again, but I stood up and looked up at him with indignant rage.

"No, Mark. I don't want to hear your excuses. You lost the right to demand my attention the day you decided to leave me here," I said, getting up and grabbing my clutch bag. "Ellie, I'm leaving."

Mark grabbed my wrist and stopped me. "I didn't decide to leave you here," he said, his cheeks colouring as his classmates came over and were eying the two of us with concern. "It wasn't easy for me to make this decision, you know? I would have thought you'd be supportive."

"Supportive of you? Supportive?" I asked, my temper flaring up as I snatched my wrist out of his grip. "You expect me to be supportive of you when you decide to ditch me and run off to a farm on the other side of the country without even considering that I might want to come with you? You didn't even consider me in your plans, Mark. That's what hurts the most. And you know what? I wouldn't support you even if you had. You'll fail as a farmer. You can't do anything for yourself, let alone shoulder the responsibility of running a farm and keeping livestock."

Mark looked like I had just slapped him, and part of me wish I had.

"I can take care of myself perfectly fine," he snapped back. "And I won't fail as a farmer. I actually know a lot about farming because of my grandfather, so I'm not completely clueless. Unlike you... you don't even know what you're going to do when you graduate."

"Oh yeah? Well guess what, buddy," I said, jabbing two of my manicured fingers into his shoulder angrily. "I'm going to show you just how clueless you are. Anything you can do, I can do better and I'll prove it to you. I'm going to become a farmer too." I immediately regretted the words the moment they came out of my mouth, but it was too late to turn back and I knew I had to stand firm so I wouldn't lose face in front of him.

Mark scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "What? You? Become a farmer?"

"Yep, exactly," I replied, also folding my arms across my chest in a similar manner.

This wasn't the first time that Mark and I had had this sort of argument. Ever since we were kids we would compete with each other about everything. Who could eat the most sausages, who could run the fastest, who could get the highest grades. Usually I would beat him, he would sulk and then we would make up and have all sorts of fantastic make-up sex. But this was different; becoming a farmer was a completely alien concept to me and I must confess that in spite of my earlier claims, I had very little confidence in my ability to beat him. I had laid down a challenge to him that I wasn't 100% sure I could win and it scared the crap out of me. And Mark knew it, his eyes flashed with excitement at the prospect of beating me at something.

"Well then, if you're so cock-sure you'll beat me, then why don't we have a bet? Every farming town enters in competitions on the Sunshine Islands for several different categories. Best raised cow, best raised chicken, summer crop, autumn crop and so on. I'll be entering in those competitions after my first year as a farmer and if you're really serious about this then you will too. Whoever wins the most competitions after our second year will be the winner," Mark replied. "Deal?"

For a moment I hesitated. The thought of having to be a farmer for a year, let alone two years, was daunting to me and my mouth fell open as I tried to decide. I looked over at Ellie and found her staring up at me with a combination of concern and awe. She then gave me a nod and an encouraging smile and I found the strength I needed to accept the challenge.

"Deal," I said, turning back to Mark with a smug smile. "I'll beat you and make you regret becoming a farmer. I'll make you regret leaving me behind."

Mark's face fell and he looked sadly at me. "I already regretted making _that_ decision before we even made this bet, Chels."

"All words, all meaningless," I snapped back, turning away from him as I started heading out of the bar.

"Chelsea, where are you going?" Ellie called after me.

"The library. I have some research to do." 

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><p>Okay, so I can't say that making a bet against my ex-boyfriend about who could become the better farmer was the most mature thing for me to do, but in hindsight it probably was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Ellie had been completely right. The predictability of my life before that point had been comfortable and easy, but the excitement of starting out somewhere else with such a difficult goal in mind made me realise that I had been living in such a boring world. The idea of not knowing how things were going to turn out was both terrifying and exhilarating.<p>

"Shit, how am I going to buy a farm?" the question finally occurred to me when I was sitting eating lunch with Trent and Ellie the next day.

I should probably mention that Trent and Ellie were pretty much my best friends when I was at university. I had met Ellie when I first arrived at my dorm rooms during our first year and she became one of my drinking buddies during our Fresher's Week. That same week, I introduced her to Trent after going up to him at the student union bar. Trent had been in his second to last year of studying medicine and while I found Trent incredibly attractive too, I already had Mark and so I told Trent that my friend Ellie was interested in him. One thing led to another and soon they were double dating with me and Mark.

I used to idolise them as the perfect couple. Trent was studying to become a doctor while Ellie was studying to become a nurse. It was like a perfect match. Both good looking, intelligent and incredibly affectionate, it was nice to hang around with them when Mark was busy. They were always closer to me than they ever were to Mark, since Mark and Trent didn't seem to particularly like each other for some reason, so it didn't surprise me that they had both decided to side with me over the whole farmer issue.

Trent smiled ruefully at my previous question before asking, "Did it only just occur to you?"

"Yes," I replied, burying my head in my hands. "I'm such an idiot."

"An adorable idiot," Ellie said, patting my head as I looked up at her with a grim expression. "Have you checked the newspaper? You never know, there might be something in there."

"I highly doubt it," I said with a sigh. "I suppose I'll have to go down to the estate agents to see if there is anything up for sale. But why oh why did I have to open my big mouth?"

"It's not too late to tell him you're joking," Trent said, opening a bag of chips and offered it to me.

I shook my head. "No. I can't."

"Can't eat chips?"

"No! I can't take back what I said! He'll laugh at me and think he's won. Goddamnit! What's wrong with me?"

"Well at least it's taken your mind off the break-up," Ellie reminded me. "Though, judging from the way the both of you were reacting to each other last night, I wonder if Mark really understands that the two of you have split up for good."

"Huh?" I asked, looking at her with confusion. "Of course he understands. He's the one who decided to move to the other side of the country."

"Yeah, but, if you guys are both going to be competing against each other, won't you see each other around a lot. Like at these festivals and such?"

"Oh god, you're right," I groaned, burying my face in my hands again. "I'm such an idiot."

"Stop wallowing in your self-pity and just get on with it," Trent chastised me. "Don't be such a baby."

"Says the grown man with the milk obsession," I replied sulkily, glancing at the milk carton in his hand. "I bet you weren't breastfed as a baby."

Ellie's coke sprayed out of her mouth and Trent's expression deadpanned at his girlfriend's amusement.

"That's not funny," he replied, glaring at Ellie who was wiping up the mess and giggling into her napkin. He turned back to me with an unimpressed stare. "Look, don't start picking on me just because you made a mistake by challenging Mark about this. You must have known what you were getting into when you said that to him."

I didn't reply and merely sulked, watching Ellie as she mopped up the mess she made. I knew Trent was right of course. I was dead serious about the challenge I had made the night before and I knew I had to pull my socks up and start making plans. I would have to drop out of university (what a waste of money!), find a farm to buy, and find the finances to get it running. Not to mention dealing with the disappointment of my parents.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Trent reached his hand across the table and put it over mine reassuringly. "I'll see if I can help you find a farm to buy. I've got a friend who owns a shipping company. He used to be a farmer so he might know of some nearby plots for you to get started on."

"Oh you're an angel, Trent!" I cried happily, swinging my arms forward and pulling him into a bear hug as Ellie looked on in surprise. When I pulled away I was surprised to see Trent's cheeks flushed and I suddenly became very aware of how flustered he became afterwards. I glanced at Ellie questioningly but she didn't look at me and turned to glare over towards the cafeteria hatch where the cooks were serving food.


	3. Arrival

Note from the Author: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of these wonderful characters etc blahblahboringdisclaimershizz. Uwah... third chapter! I was struggling with this because I was in two minds about how to write Julia's character. Excuse the crappiness!

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

_Arrival_

Three weeks after I made the bet with Mark, Trent finally told me that his friend did actually have a farm up for sale which was conveniently situated on the Sunshine Islands. I remembered what Mark had told me about the festivals and competitions taking place there and I was ecstatic. It was dirt cheap and totally within my price range. I had enough money saved up to buy it, what with the rest of my student loan and the inheritance my grandfather had left me, but I wasn't sure how much it would cost to get the place running. Seeing that I would need help from my parents, I realised with some dread that I had to tell them about my change of plans.

They weren't happy.

My dad raged, my mom cried. And my little sister? Well, she just laughed. They had all thought I would get married to Mark – not compete against him at farming.

They did eventually come around to the idea when they realised that I was serious about it. I spent an evening lamenting to my mom and sister about what happened with Mark and while my mother disapproved of me going off to be a farmer to settle the score, my sister thought it was a 'fan-fucking-tastic' idea and encouraged me to do it. Meanwhile my dad continued to sulk about me moving off to a remote island, but he eventually caved and gave me the money which would serve as my start up capital and wished me all the best. Yes, my parents are epically awesome like that.

After finalising the purchase of the farm and packing up what I would need, I got on the ferry to Verdure Island, one of the islands that made up the Sunshine Islands, and nervously wondered what my farm was like. I hadn't actually seen what it looked like in person, but I had been shown pictures of it by Trent and it seemed quite well kept.

Of course, reality is a bitch. The place was a total dump.

When I first arrived at Verdure I was greeted by Trent's friend, Taro, and Taro's grandson, Elliot. Taro was a short old man, with leathery skin and a stern gaze that made me feel like a child who had done something wrong. He took one look at me, my suitcase and my three cardboard boxes and scoffed.

"You? Run a farm? I thought Trent had better judgement," he said dismissively, sounding a lot like Mark had done a couple of weeks ago. I gritted my teeth and glared back at him, eliciting a chortle from the older man. "My, my, what a glare you've got. You remind me of my ex-wife. Well, we'll see what you can do. If you're as determined as you look then you'll be fine, I'm sure." He turned to his grandson, a young man around the same age as me with a shock of red hair and dorky looking spectacles that made him look like a ginger Harry Potter sans the lightning scar. "Elliot, take her up to the ranch and show her around. When you're done, bring her back to our house so we can chat about how things work around here."

Elliot nodded wordlessly and with a shy smile he led me up across Verdure towards the bridge that connected it to a smaller island. Then I saw my farm. A strangled cry of despair escaped my lips.

The fields were riddled with weeds, rocks and god knows what else, the animal shed was barely standing and the chicken coop was pretty much collapsed into itself. The farmhouse looked a haunted house from the outside and I saw the carcass of something dead lying a few feet from the door.

As Elliot led me to the farmhouse door and started fiddling with the keys to show me inside, I collapsed to my knees and started to cry. "What am I doing here?" I sobbed as Elliot looked down at me and fidgeted uncomfortably. "I don't belong here, what am I doing?"

"Uh, it's alright Chelsea. It's not all that bad. Gannon's a wiz with carpentry, he'll be able to fix it up for you, I'm sure," Elliot said, trying to sound reassuring but failing. I think he was pretty disturbed by the fact that a total stranger had broken down into tears in front of him. And I couldn't blame him. Realising I was being a wet-blanket, I wiped my face with the back of my hand as I mumbled an apology.

"I-It's okay. I guess this is a bit overwhelming for you," Elliot replied awkwardly.

He opened the door of the farmhouse and when the door swung open my horror increased. It was pretty much uninhabitable. The curtains were moth-eaten, dust and cobwebs had settled pretty much everywhere and there was a strange mossy smell that didn't seem particularly healthy.

"I'm going to die in a shit hole," I thought out loud.

I heard Elliot titter to himself and turned to him with a look of panic. "Wh-Why are you laughing?"

"You're overreacting. It just needs a clean up," Elliot said through giggles. "If you really don't want to stay here yet, you can sleep over at my girlfriend's place while Gannon's fixing it up. I already told her you were coming and she suspected you might react like this."

I don't know what I was more shocked by: the fact that someone was nice enough to let a complete stranger stay at their place while their own house was being renovated or the fact that this dork actually had a girlfriend. I blinked dumbly at him before I wiped my tears away and picked myself up of the floor.

"Are you sure your girlfriend won't mind?" I asked. "Because there is no way in hell I can live in this place when it looks like this."

"She knew you'd say something like that," Elliot said, pushing his glasses up his face. "Seriously though, she'll be fine with it. You seem like a relatively normal girl so I'm sure there won't be a problem."

Hearing that normality was the only prerequisite required for me to stay over at this girl's house seemed a little strange to me, but I decided not to dwell too much on it as Elliot helped me bring my things back into town. He led me down the main street before stopping outside of a large converted farmhouse that had been turned into an animal store. I shot him a questioning look as he held the door open for me.

"Julia's mother runs the livestock and animal store here," he explained as I stepped inside.

The minute I was through the door there was a squeal of delight and a buxom blonde girl flew towards me with outstretched arms and a look of delight. Stunned and feeling a little nervous, I glanced over my shoulder at Elliot and saw him smiling cheerfully as if nothing was wrong. When the girl pulled away, I managed to get a good look at her. Was _this_ the girlfriend? How on earth did Elliot land a babe like this?

"Nice to meet ya!" she greeted me with a heavy southern accent. She was tall, big breasted and had dishwater blonde hair that fell in charming curls around her face. Dressed in daisy-dukes, an open top tied at her waist and knee high cowboy boots, she looked like a country and western themed glamour model. And she looked far too pleased to see me.

"Nice to meet you too," I replied stiffly.

I'm sure my face expressed how intimidated I felt since she leaned forward and pinched my cheek gently as she said, "Don't worry. I'm not gonna bite ya. My name's Julia. I expect my boyfriend's brought you over here because you don't wanna live in that ruin just yet."

"Yes," I replied uneasily, shifting the box in my hands uncomfortably.

Realising that I wanted to put it down Julia waved towards the corner of the room and said, "You can leave your stuff there for now. You probably won't be staying here very long so you won't need to unpack much. Just the bare essentials. I'll lend you some of my clothes for now so you don't need those just yet."

"O-okay," I stammered, putting the box down in the corner. My back was killing me and I rubbed it with my hand like an old person as Elliot put the other box down next to mine. Turning to Julia, I smiled weakly as I said, "It's very kind of you to let me stay here. I'm sorry if I'm intruding upon you."

"Oh it's fine!" Julia replied with a wave of her hand and a giggle. She seemed so girly and feminine in that classic Southern Belle sort of well that I had to admit that I felt quite butch standing next to her in my sweatpants and frumpy looking jumper. "I'm so glad you've arrived though! It's been decades since the Sunshine Islands had a resident farmer and it will really help commerce here once you've got the farm up and running. As Elliot's probably told you, my Ma and I run the animal store, so if you need anything for your livestock then you can just come right on over. Speaking of which, I think my Ma's in the kitchen cooking dinner. Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I'm actually kind of starving," I replied, rubbing my belly appreciatively at the thought of being fed. "Again, I'm really thankful you're doing this for me."

"It's no problem," she said, linking arms with me and guiding me to the kitchen as Elliot followed us in.

When we entered the kitchen and I spotted Julia's mother, I instantly saw the resemblance between mother and daughter. Blonde like her daughter, the matronly woman had the same kind blue eyes and pouty lips, though she was a little rounder and obviously more mature. The older woman considered me curiously for a moment before a grin broke out on her face.

"You must be Chelsea," she said in the same southern accent her daughter had, wiping her hands on her apron before holding a hand out for me to shake. "My name's Mirabelle. It's lovely to meet you at last. Julia just would _not_ shut up about your arrival this past week. It's been driving us all crazy."

"I was a little over excited," Julia said shyly. "It's so rare for us to have new people moving here."

"Well, I'm glad you're here anyways," Mirabelle interjected before her daughter could say anymore. "You can stay here as long as you like until Gannon's finished fixing that ruin up and I'll get Julia to show you around the town tomorrow morning. You'll want to learn where everything is quickly so you can get started. But for now, let's eat. Dinner is just about ready." She turned to Elliot. "Are you staying or do you need to get home?"

"Grandpa is waiting at home, so I better go eat first. I'll come back to get you later, okay Chelsea?" Elliot asked. I nodded in response and he went off on his way as Mirabelle motioned for me to take a seat while Julia started setting the table.

For some reason I couldn't quite believe that these people were being so nice to me when I was a complete stranger they knew nothing about. Sure, I was a girl and I was relatively non-threatening to look at, but did they not worry about what sort of person I was? I was staggered by how kindly they treated me and I found it strange that they would show me such kindness. I had grown so used to the cold disregard people had for their neighbours in the city that I found this sudden warm welcome a little overwhelming. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe they had some ulterior motive in inviting me to stay at their place, but as I watched mother and daughter preparing dinner I realised that they didn't. They were just normal people that were just doing it out of pure kindness.

"Really, thank you for this," I said gratefully as Mirabelle put a plate of shepherd's pie and various vegetables down in front of me. It smelled heavenly and I wouldn't be surprised if I had actually been drooling.

"It's fine darlin'" Mirabelle said, patting me gently on the shoulder.

Once we were all sat down to eat, Julia turned to me and asked, "So where are you from? You're from the city right?"

"Yeah, I was studying at a university on the mainland until just recently. I lived with my parents in Oak Town before, but I moved into dorms on campus when I started studying," I told them in between shovelling food into my mouth hungrily.

"What were you studying?" Mirabelle asked as she scooped more carrots onto my plate.

"I was studying Social Anthropology," I told them. As I had expected, Mirabelle and Julia looked bemused. "It's the study of humans in their cultural groups. It touches on various different social sciences, like Psychology, sociology and philosophy. It's a pretty broad subject, despite most peoples' initial impressions about it; most think it's just studying culture."

"Wow, you must be really smart," Julia said, staring at me in awe. Then it hit her. "Why did you decide to become a farmer then? Have you had no experience in agriculture what so ever?"

"Nope, none at all," I said. Mother and daughter both went quiet and stared at me as if I'd just told them that I came from Mars. I blushed. "I became a farmer because I wanted to try something different. I figured that with the economy the way it is, it was better to take up a self-sustaining job where I was pretty much be self-employed and working off my own steam rather than working for someone else. I've lived a pretty sedentary life up until now, so I figured that it was time for a change." Okay, so I lied. But how could I tell them that I only decided to become a farmer just because I made a bet with my ex-boyfriend? They would have thought I was off my rocker.

"Well, you made a wise choice," Mirabelle said, though her eyes were narrowed suspiciously. The woman was a lot sharper than she looked. "Farming is worth the effort you put in, as long as you work hard at it. It's not a walk in the park, I'll tell ya that. The last kid who came here trying to fix that farm up didn't last two seasons. He sold it off to Taro and it was left derelict until you came along. You've got your work cut out for you, but I can tell just by looking at you that you're kinda stubborn. Am I right?" 'Kinda' was a bit of an understatement but I didn't want to correct her and simply nodded. She smiled kindly at me before offering me some more orange squash when I drained my glass nervously. "It's nice to see you have quite an appetite unlike that other city girl who moved here a few months back."

"Other city girl?" I asked.

"Lanna," Julia replied clumsily, food still in her mouth. Mirabelle tutted at her daughter and threw a napkin at her as the girl hurried to swallow her food. "She's that one-hit wonder pop singer from a couple of years back, do you remember? The one who sang Bubble Pop and had that outrageously sexy music video that turned her into a sex-icon overnight. Well she moved here to 'take a break' from her music career."

My eyes bugged out. "Are you serious? There's a real celebrity living here?"

Julia rolled her eyes with frustration. "She's hardly a celebrity anymore. Most of the time she's just swanning around the island wearing a ridiculous amount of clothing and tries to pretend she's fishing when really she's just trying to check out Denny."

"Denny?" I asked. I guessed he must be a guy.

"Yeah, he's the local fisherman. He's hot," Julia said with a grin. "There aren't many available guys on this island and he's pretty much the hottest single guy here now that Will's been snapped up by Lily. But anyway, don't worry about them. I'll introduce you to everyone tomorrow morning when we go out. Anyway, are you done with eating? We should hurry over to Elliot's place now; I don't really feel like sitting around waiting for him to get his ass back here."

"Julia, what's the rush?" Mirabelle asked grumpily as her daughter got up and started clearing her plate away. "Don't make her rush her dinner! She'll get a stomach ache."

"It's okay Mirabelle," I said. "I've pretty much finished eating anyway." I gestured to my empty plate before Julia scooped it up and loaded it into the dishwasher. "It was very nice, thank you."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, you best get going. Julia looks just about ready to burst," Mirabelle said, scowling up at her daughter who was literally bouncing up and down on the spot.

"It's just because I want you to meet Natalie already!" Julia said. "Natalie's my best friend, and Elliot's sister."

I nodded slowly at this, wondering what sort of dynamics that would have on Taro's family, but I wasn't give much time to dwell on it when Julia literally grabbed my arm in a vice like grip and dragged me out of the house. We went up the street that led up to my farm but instead of turning right towards the bridge we went left and headed in the direction of the beach. I had barely any time to admire my surroundings and take in the various landmarks at the speed we were going, but Julia looked so excited that I didn't have the heart to complain.


	4. Friends

**Chapter Four**

_Friends_

We stopped outside the largest house on the street and before she led me up the pathway she said, "Just so you know, Natalie's a bit of a bitch." I wasn't entirely sure what to make of this. "She doesn't mean to be, but that's just how she is, so don't take anything mean she says to heart, okay?" After this, we headed up to the house and the door immediately swung open the minute we stepped onto the porch.

"Hello Julia," a red-haired middle-aged woman greeted us energetically. I immediately recognised that this was probably Elliot's mother and I waved shyly at her. "Oh my! And this must be Chelsea! It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Felicia, Taro's daughter. Please, please, come in! We've just finished dinner."

As Julia and I stepped inside I spotted Elliot poking his head around the doorway of what I assumed was the dining room. "You're here already?" he asked, frowning at his girlfriend. "Did you even let her eat?"

"Of course I did!" Julia replied crossly. "We just came straight here after finishing since we didn't want to wait for you." I like how she decided to include me in the 'we'.

"Is this her?" I heard another voice ask from behind Elliot.

A girl with exactly the same colour hair as Elliot stepped out from behind him and peered at me through narrowed brown eyes. I immediately knew that this was Natalie. Although she was by no means a bombshell like Julia, she was pretty in a delicate, pixyish kinda way, which was further accentuated by the short bob-cut of her hair. She was dressed quite boyishly, in a green turtle neck top, large baggy jeans and a yellow apron around her middle. She stared at me suspiciously for a moment before asking rudely, "Are you her?"

"Well who else would it be?" Julia replied, putting her hands on her hips. "Aren't you even going to say hi and introduce yourself?"

"My name's Natalie and hi," Natalie said monotonously, sarcasm practically dripping from every word.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of Natalie's sarcastic greeting and hesitated before I smiled lamely at her and outstretching my hand for her to take. "Chelsea, nice to meet you." Natalie stared at the hand unsurely before taking it and shaking it firmly. I grinned at this and said, "Good handshake."

"Yeah," Natalie said with an eyebrow raised questioningly. "So _you're_ going to be the new farmer? You look a bit scrawny."

I realised that this must have been why Julia said that Natalie was a bit of a bitch. I grimaced as I replied, "Yeah. I'm not exactly built for manual labour but oh well."

"Don't worry, you'll have an amazing body once you've got used to working on the farm. It's great for your figure," Julia replied cheerfully. She seemed pleased with my first meeting with Natalie. "Nat, let's go up to your room. I want to catch her up on stuff about the town."

"Not so fast," Elliot interrupted. "Grandpa wants to talk to her first. Chelsea, go on into the study to your right. Grandpa's waiting there for you."

Julia pouted and Natalie rolled her eyes, but I guessed that I had no other choice and went into the study as Julia and Natalie clattered up the stairs together. Closing the door behind me, I looked around the wood panelled study curiously before spotting Taro standing next to a book case. Hearing me enter, he frowned and motioned for me to sit down in front of the large oak desk as he took a seat in the large leather office chair on the other side.

"So, you're going to become a farmer and you have no idea about farming," he began with a raised eyebrow which immediately reminded me of Natalie. "Tell me why."

I hesitated for a moment as I considered giving him the same lie I told Julia and Mirabelle, but I could tell that he would see through it immediately. The old man had a keen quickness in his expression that reminded me of Ellie, who I was never able to successfully lie to. I sighed. "I'm going into farming because I want to get revenge on my ex-boyfriend."

Taro didn't show any trace of surprise or anger at this and for a moment I thought Trent may have told him. "Please, elaborate. I don't like making judgements unless I have the full story," he said as he stroked his moustache.

I felt a bit awkward telling him the whole story, but I knew I had no choice. "He was my childhood sweetheart and my one and only boyfriend. Then one day, out of nowhere, he tells me that he was dropping out of university and moving to the other side of the country to become a farmer on his grandfather's farm in Zephyr. He didn't ask me what I thought about it, or if I wanted to come with him to help him. He just made the decision and didn't include me. And thus our six year relationship was concluded and I was left broken hearted and angry. When I saw him again I stupidly challenged him to a competition of sorts: whoever can win the most festivals during our second year of having our farms up and running would be the winner. It's a bit immature, I know, but we always compete like this with each other and I kind of wanted to make him regret deciding to leave me behind."

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Taro said sagely, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he digested what I told him.

"Yeah, well, I have every intention of winning," I replied. "I'm hardworking and even though I have absolutely no idea where to start, I never give up and I'm sure I can get that farm up and running."

"Elliot told me that you had a nervous breakdown when you saw it," Taro said sharply. "Are you sure you can succeed?"

I nodded with a stern frown. "Yes."

"Well, you've bought it now. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what kind of farmer you turn out to be. Tomorrow I'll go round to the farm and show you the basics, though it'll probably have to be after Julia's shown you around the town."

"How do you know she's taking me on a tour tomorrow?" I asked, slightly shocked. What was he? A mind reader?

"The same way I know that it's going to rain tomorrow. Remember to bring an umbrella with you, and head to Gannon's workshop first before she drags you off to meet everyone. Commission Gannon to fix up your farmhouse first and he should have it like new in a day or two," Taro said. "I'll pop round to your farm when the rain stops and I'll take you through the basics of tilling the land and so on." He paused when he saw me smiling appreciatively at him. "I hope you're as determined as you seem, it'd be a shame to see another farmer leave us."

I nodded. "I hope things go well too. Not just because of the competition, but because everyone here seems really nice so far."

"We're an easy going people here on the Sunshine Islands," Taro agreed. "But don't think that we're pushovers. We're pretty serious about our festivals here, so make sure you always attend, even if you're not making an entry. You'll need the experience and insight it'll give you, if you're going to beat that ex-boyfriend of yours." He narrowed his eyes slightly as he asked, "What's he like?"

"Who? My ex?"

"Yes."

"Scatterbrained. Doesn't even know the basics about domestic chores and he's lacking common sense," I replied grudgingly. "He'll fail."

"Young men learn fast and have the advantage over women in terms of physical strength and stamina," Taro reminded me. "Even if he's not the sharpest tool in the box, he's still a man and he's got motivation just like you do. Don't under estimate him."

"I know," I said with an unhappy sigh.

"Well, you best go up and chat with Natalie and Julia. They're waiting upstairs eagerly for you," Taro said dismissively.

"Thank you sir," I said as I rose from my seat. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, yes. Don't forget that umbrella."

Afterwards I headed up the stairs towards the room I saw Natalie and Julia disappear into. I paused at the door and knocked on it timidly. A few seconds later it swung open with a rush of air and I was greeted by a grinning Julia and a bored looking Natalie. Natalie was reclining on her bed while Julia had obviously been sitting on the floor since there was several fashion magazines splayed across it with a gap in the middle where she'd been sitting.

"Sup yo," I said awkwardly as Natalie glared up at me.

"Make yourself at home, Julia already has," Natalie said with a wave of her hand.

I gingerly sat down in the desk chair at the table next to the window, peering around myself curiously. It was an orderly room with very few decorations and zero signs of clutter. I figured that Natalie was a little OCD about tidiness and I smiled weakly at her as she watched me looking around the room.

"I hate mess," she said. "Which Julia seems to forget every time she comes around."

"Oh shush," Julia said. "Anyway, Chelsea, tell us, are you single?"

"Here we go..." Natalie said, a smile playing on her lips. She looked almost cute when she smiled.

"Yeah, I'm single. I just broke up with my boyfriend Mark," I told them tiredly. "We were together since we were thirteen."

"Ooh! So it's like me and Elliot," Julia said brightly. "I started dating Elliot when we were fourteen though, but still, childhood sweethearts."

"Make me barf," Natalie said. "I can't believe I stayed friends with you after seeing you suck face with that dork."

"Heh... And here I thought it was pretty convenient that I was dating your brother. Means I get two birds with one stone every time I come over; I can see you and him at the same time," Julia replied. She turned back to me and asked, "So why did you break up with your ex?"

She didn't seem to realised how raw the break-up was and I looked away in embarrassment as I tried to collect my thoughts and think of what I was going to say. I swallowed and glanced out of the window thoughtfully before turning back to them, ready to reply, but Natalie stopped me when she said, "You actually think before you speak most of the time, don't you?" She didn't wait for a response before turning to Julia. "I like her. She considers what she's going to say before she opens her mouth. Unlike you."

"Wah?" Julia said dumbly.

"Ever thought that maybe it's a bit of a sensitive subject?" Natalie pointed out, tilting her head towards me.

This made me smile. Julia was right, even if Natalie seemed a bit blunt, she could at least empathise with people.

I shrugged and said, "It's okay. I'm not one of those people that become catatonic over finished relationships. I mean, yes, I'm upset about it, but I've got other things to worry about. In answer to your question Julia, he decided to run off to the other side of the country and didn't tell me till just before." I decided to omit the detail about him running off to become a farmer, because then I'd have to tell Julia the whole story behind my real motivation for taking up the farm.

"Sounds like a jerk," Natalie commented, sitting upright.

"Yep, but he's always been that way," I said with a shrug. "Mark's always been a bit impulsive and spontaneous. It was part of the reason I like him, since I'm pretty much the complete opposite."

"I think buying that cesspit of a farm and moving out here on your own was pretty spontaneous," Natalie replied with an amused expression.

"Yeah, you're right, but I was a bit distressed by the break up and figured that I needed a bit of a break from it all," I said with a heavy sigh. "So... how long have you guys been living here?"

"Since we were babies," Julia replied, looking up from her magazine. "Natalie and Elliot are my childhood friends. I'm the same age as Natalie and Elliot is a year older. I think we're the only ones that were here since infancy, though I'm not sure about Sabrina."

"No, she was born on the mainland," Natalie corrected her. "Regis took her here after his wife died."

I was still confused by these names, but tried my best to keep up. From what I could tell, the town was quite small and nearly everyone knew everyone else. It was a little unnerving for me since I had come from the city where almost everyone was a stranger. I guess Natalie saw my confused expression since she was the first to offer up an explanation as to who Sabrina was.

"Sabrina is the little princess bookworm that lives up at the big mansion on Sprout Island. She lives there with her father, Regis, who's an ore and diamond tycoon that took up residency here when Sabrina was like... three or something. My mom thinks they're vampires because they're so pale, but I think they're just bookdorks who don't go out enough."

"You shouldn't call Sabrina a bookdork," Julia said with a reproving frown. "She has anaemia. She can't help that she's pale."

"Well, whatever, I don't like her. She's wimpy and needs to get a backbone. I hate damsel-in-distress types," Natalie replied grumpily. "I find her almost as irritating as Lanna."

"I get the feeling you two don't really like Lanna," I said.

Natalie scoffed. "She's two faced and conceited, but she somehow has all the guys literally drooling over her. Including my brother, even though he's got a girlfriend like Julia. I don't see what the big deal is about her. She runs around wearing that hideous green dress most of the time now, trying to 'rehabilitate her image' apparently. I just don't understand how they can think she's attractive."

"It's that music video," I said, remembering the obscene dance moves and lack of clothing.

"Any girl with no morals and no dignity can dance like that," Natalie said bitingly.

Julia sighed. "I hope Alisa's choreography for the Harvest Goddess Festival is a bit more interesting than last year. That old bat before her was too traditional."

"Harvest Goddess Festival?" I asked. Who the hell was the Harvest Goddess?

"Oh lord, you know _nothing_ about farming, do you?" Natalie said, laughing out loud. It was the first time I saw her smile and she looked exactly like her mother.

"Excuse my ignorance," I said sheepishly. "Enlighten me?"

"The Harvest Goddess is, well, the Goddess of the Harvest. She watches over farms and the areas surrounding farms, and so it's a pretty big deal for places like this to worship her. Alisa, the priestess on Goddess Island, is a Harvest Goddess fanatic. She took over from that old bat Carmen, who moved back to the mainland to live with her family since she's getting too old. But yeah, you better start making offerings to the Harvest Goddess if you hope for your farm to succeed," Natalie told me once she had calmed down. "The Harvest Goddess Festival is basically a celebration of her birthday, though it's more generally thought of as the biggest couple festival of the year."

"When she says couple festival, she means festivals where you need a date," Julia said solemnly. "Along with the Fireworks Festival, Starry Night Festival and the New Years Eve Fireworks show, it's one of the biggest events in the town."

My face deadpanned. Seriously? There were still sentimental towns like this? I had only ever read about such towns in story books; you know, those towns where everyone always gathered together for special events and celebrated them as a community. I rubbed my forehead at the thought of having to go to these stupid 'couple events' as a singleton. This was going to take a while for me to get used to...

"So, this Harvest Goddess Festival," I began. "What do you have to do? You said something about choreography... do we have to dance?"

"Yes, all the young women in town have to dance a special choreographed dance and then afterwards there's a slow dance with your designated partner. Julia's going with Elliot, obviously, and I've already asked the local chef, Pierre," Natalie told me. I noticed that she said Pierre's name a little softer than her other words and that she had started blushing.

"Your boyfriend?" I asked, with raised eyebrows.

"N-No," she replied. "Not yet."

"They just started dating," Julia explained, grinning slyly. "He's so baby-faced that we thought he was an adolescent when he first arrived here last year. It's shocking to know that he's actually twenty four. Natalie even ordered him to show her his passport so she could confirm it was true."

"Shut the eff up," Natalie snapped, grabbing a pillow and hiding behind it shyly.

"Ain't she cute!" Julia teased. "Well anyway, back to the festival! We should get you a date for it at least, and then we'll have to organise dance practice sessions with the other girls."

I frowned at this. Dance practice sessions? Really? It sounded like a lot of work just for an annual festival, and I immediately wondered if I'd be able to find the time to attend them once I started work on the form. Getting the farm up and running was what was foremost on my mind, and even as Natalie and Julia continued to natter at me for the rest of the evening, my mind kept straying back to what I would have to do to get the farm started. Of course, I would have to start by clearing the fields and tilling the soil, but then I'd have to find out where to get seeds and fertiliser. And then I'd have to check out the irrigation system and see how much it would cost me to get the barn and chicken coup repaired and rebuilt. I continued to think in anxious circles until eventually I fell asleep in Natalie's chair and Julia decided that we would spend the night there at Taro's house.


	5. Touch and Go

**Note from the Author:** Thanks to you guys for reviewing so far! I feel a bit guilty that this is going to be a Velsea fic! _ And yes, TheKiro, that's what I'm angling at when I'm writing this – trying to make it as realistic as possible. I promise I'll try my best not to rush the romance. I don't think my Chelsea-muse is ready anyway; she still all ANGUISH!Mark right now.

PS. Nyurgh, I love Elliot. I'm going to write an Elliot/Julia oneshot when this is over.

PPS. The chapter title 'Touch and Go' is the name of the song I was listening to when I was writing this chapter - hence the randomness. o_o Anyway, I'll shut up now. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

_Touch and Go_

The next morning I woke up on the floor of Natalie's bedroom with a blanket snugly wrapped around me and a pillow tucked under my head. Julia had slept on the floor just beside me, though she seemed to have kicked off her covers in her sleep and had slung one of her legs over them. I also noticed with an amused smile that she was sucking her thumb.

Sitting upright, I stifled a yawn with the back of my hand before checking my watch and seeing that I had woken up at an ungodly hour. It was dead on six am. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was just rising and frowned at the thought of having to wake up that early every day from there on out. It was slightly depressing to know that I wouldn't be able to indulge in my lazy morning lie-ins anymore. Lazily, I rolled over and stared at the pictures that hung on Natalie's bedroom walls, squinting my eyes as I saw pictures of her family, Julia, and a couple of people I didn't recognise. Her friends were an odd looking bunch and I wondered how so many different people could have ended up on the same island together.

I stayed in bed, looking at Natalie's pictures for another few minutes before deciding to get up and head downstairs to see if anyone else was awake. As I crept down the stairs, I heard an old tinny sounding radio playing somewhere and followed the sound. I pushed open the door to the kitchen and found Felicia busying about, singing quietly to herself as she made breakfast with a surprising amount of energy. Oh how I wish I could learn how to be that energetic and cheery in the morning.

"Oh! Goodness Chelsea! You startled me!" Felicia exclaimed when she looked round and saw me.

"Good morning," I said shyly with a little shrug, staying in the doorway.

"Yes! Good morning! Do you want some breakfast? I've made boiled eggs and toast," Felicia said, waving towards her cooking pots. My stomach growled in response for me and she giggled. "Yes, you're hungry. Sit, sit!"

I did as I was told and she served me food before sitting across from me and drinking a cup of coffee quietly. I peered at her over my food and saw that Natalie really did look like her, though I couldn't see any traces of Elliot in her face. The only thing they seemed to share was the bright red hair.

"I heard that you're going off on a trip around town today with Julia," Felicia said suddenly. "Please take Natalie with you? She's been sulking in her room for too long now."

"Sulking?" I parroted. She didn't seem like she had been sulking last night.

"Yes, she got told off by her grandfather the other day for going out on a date with that chef boy," Felicia said whimsically. "My father is a bit traditional and doesn't like the idea of Natalie dating yet, even though the poor girl is nineteen. I had the same problem when I was her age, but I found a way around it."

"Oh," I said, unsure of what else to say. I had questions I wanted to ask but I swallowed them and continued to eat until I heard someone shuffling into the kitchen behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Elliot standing there, topless, with just his pyjama bottoms on. We both froze. I gaped like a fish for a moment as I stared up at him and realised exactly why Julia was with him. The dork had muscles. Lots of them. And he looked pretty cute when he wasn't wearing his glasses. I had to remind myself to shut my mouth and not drool.

"Morning," I managed to croak after a long pause.

He went bright red and rubbed the back of his head shyly. "Uh, yeah, morning," he said, shuffling backwards. "I'm gonna... put a shirt on." He scurried out of the kitchen and I slowly turned back to my breakfast, trying to get over the shock of seeing such a wonderfully toned body so early in the morning.

"I think he forgot that you were sleeping over," Felicia said knowingly with a small wink. "He's awfully shy."

"Y-Yeah," I stammered, trying to remove the mental image I was getting of his abs.

When Elliot came back, he was wearing a pair of jeans and a checked t-shirt along with his glasses. He had returned back to his dorky persona and my heartbeat began to settle back into its normal rhythm. He sat down at the table and helped himself to some toast as I tried to stop myself from turning to stare at his torso. We awkwardly chatted about my plans for that day until finally Natalie and Julia thundered down the stairs and entered the kitchen with fatigued expressions.

"I want my bed," Julia groaned, collapsing onto Elliot's lap as Natalie claimed the last empty chair.

"I-I'm not your bed," Elliot said shyly, glancing at his mother nervously as Julia picked up a piece of toast. Felicia didn't seem to mind though and went on sipping her coffee serenely.

"You woke up early," Natalie said. "Sleep well? You conked out pretty early last night."

I simply nodded in response, not wanting to speak when I had a mouthful of egg. I sat back and chewed slowly as I watched the family interact with one another, taking note of Felicia's untroubled expression when Julia was teasing Elliot with kisses while sitting on his lap. It was really strange to see such a relaxed family. My own family was pretty uptight and there were certain unspoken rules about behaviour. If I had behaved the way Julia was in front of my parents, they would have had a fit and probably would have threatened to kick me out of the house. But then again, since the three of them had all grown up together, they probably considered Julia as part of the family anyway and didn't pay much attention to it.

When everyone was done with eating, Natalie and Julia led me back upstairs where they proceeded to throw various articles of clothing at me for me to try on, since I hadn't brought a change of clothes. Eventually they decided on a pair of denim shorts and a halter top which made my breasts look much larger than they actually were. I felt really conscious as Natalie stared at me curiously.

"You're not actually as scrawny as you look. It was just those ass ugly clothes. I hope the rest of your wardrobe isn't like that," Natalie said bluntly. Once again, I had to tell myself not to be offended by what she had said; she was right after all. "Anyway, let's go."

"Let's go see Denny first!" Julia exclaimed excitedly.

"I have to go and see someone called Gannon first. Taro told me to ask him to fix up my farmhouse," I told her as I grabbed the huge umbrella that sat in the corner of the room. "Can I bring this?"

"Why, did gramps say it was going to rain?" Natalie asked. I nodded in response and she shrugged uncaringly.

After agreeing to go and see Denny once I'd finished my business with Gannon, we set off through the town together, with Julia and Natalie pointing out various shops and landmarks that were of interest or important. They linked arms with me and I felt a little strange wandering down the main street with both of them like that. I saw curious smiles from the various people we passed and I blushed with embarrassment as I realised how peculiar was must have a looked. But, I have to admit, the companionship was nice. I didn't know these two girls very well yet, but I knew even back then that they would be my best friends here on these strange, unfamiliar islands. It made me miss Ellie, but at the same time having them with me cured the loneliness I was feeling because of her absence.

The clouds up above looked dark and threatening as we crossed the bridge to Sprout Island and headed towards Gannon's workshop, which was situated in the island's centre. The environment around Sprout was pretty much the same as Verdure, except that it was mostly overlooked by a huge white-brick mansion that stood proudly on top of a hill to the north. Immediately to the left of it was a little hotel, which was about the same size but nowhere near as imposing as the mansion and looked a little run down from how old it was.

My first meeting with Gannon was brief. All I can say is that the man is a walking oxymoron; scary and welcoming, gruff but gentle, grouchy but easy going. He was ridiculously friendly for someone so intimidating and I was a little unnerved by his enthusiasm when I told him about what I wanted done on the farmhouse. I paid him in advance and he said that he'd get the farmhouse fixed up in two days, possibly one if the weather remained good. The weather didn't remain good though and it began to rain as we left the workshop and headed towards the beach behind the workshop where Denny's house stood. The house looked more like a shack than my farmhouse did and I scrutinised it through narrowed eyes as Julia knocked on the door. When the door opened it took only one look at Denny for me to realise what Julia was making such a fuss about.

Tall, dark and handsome, Denny stood at six foot one with a relaxed smile and the toned body of a fisherman. He wore a loose vest and a purple bandana over his head which covered dark curly hair which I later learned fell into his eyes when it wasn't tied up. My eyes lingered over his burly biceps appreciatively as Julia introduced me and told him that I was the new farmer on the Sunshine Islands.

"Nice to meet you," he said, sticking his hand out for me shake. I took it with a shy smile and revelled in the feel of his big hand closing over mine. "Now why did a gorgeous girl like you decide to become a farmer?"

Even though I couldn't help think that that line would have sounded terribly corny coming from anyone else, from him it sounded natural, like he meant it, and it made me blush. "I needed a change of pace," I managed to reply. Even though Denny wasn't ridiculously good looking or anything, it was enough to make me feel a little awkward and I had to ignore the pinches Julia gave me behind my back; it was her way of saying 'SEE SEE DIDN'T I TELL YOU?'.

"Oh, well, I hope you stick around. It's good to see a new face around here," he said with a grin before glancing at Natalie who was all but glaring at him. "Hey Nat."

"Hi," Natalie replied coldly, her voice returning to the sarcastic monotone I'd heard the night before.

"Anyway, we should probably get going," I said hurriedly, feeling terribly uncomfortable standing out in the rain with three people crammed under the same umbrella. "You're a fisherman right? You probably want to get some sleep or something. Fishermen wake up earlier than farmers, don't they?"

"Yeah, but hey, you're welcome to come in and have a cup of tea if you want. I wasn't going to sleep just yet. Was just chillin'. And it's raining, so you girls should come in and wait for the rain to stop," he said, stepping back slightly and letting me have a glimpse into his house. Even though it looked a bit crappy from outside, the interior of the shack was quite cosy. It kind of reminded me of Mark's dorm room.

"No, we couldn't intrude," I said shrilly. "It was nice meeting you Denny. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, it was a pleasure to meet you too Chelsea. You're welcome to come round whenever you like," he said, smiling charmingly at me as I surreptitiously started to shuffle away.

After that, I practically had to drag Julia away as he stood watching us leave from his doorway. "Why are we leaving?" Julia hissed at me. "He was totally checking you out just now. You should go and spend some time with him – Nat and I will go to Haila's for a bit."

"Julia, sorry, I know you mean well, but right now I want to concentrate on my farm. At least until I've got into the groove of things," I told her, struggling to keep the umbrella steady as a sudden gust of wind rushed passed us. Natalie grabbed hold of the pole and helped me keep it steady as Julia squealed.

"Fine fine! Let's just get inside somewhere!" the blonde shrieked.

"Fuck this weather, seriously," Natalie cussed as we finally went inside Haila's cafe, thoroughly windswept and disgruntled.

I took a sweeping glance around the cafe curiously and wasn't all that impressed by the interior. The walls were painted off white and the floors were covered with wood panels that were worn down from so many years of use. There were a few pot plants scattered around the outskirts of the large room, but the largest and most noticeable thing of the decorative elements in the room was the large fish tank that stood at the back wall. It was filled with various colourful fish and it immediately caught my eye that they had clownfish. I loved Finding Nemo.

"Oh! Hi girls!" a girly voice called out to us as we straightened out our clothes at the door.

The second I spotted the green dress, I knew that the girl who had just called to us was Lanna. Blonde, petite and classically pretty, she looked almost doll like. For a moment I wasn't sure what to do: ask for her autograph or laugh at her dress? Instead I smiled crookedly as the girl came over to us with a curious smile. "And who are _you_?" I tried not to take this question rudely and forced my smile to stay in place.

"Chelsea, I'm the new farmer," I said with a slight nod. "And I know who you are."

"Ooh! Are you a fan?" she breathed excitedly as I fought the urge to laugh in her face. A fan? As if. Her video had tortured me for three months straight – Mark had been watching it almost on repeat when it first came out.

"You're a great singer," I lied as Natalie walked off to the counter without acknowledging the semi-retired pop idol while Julia stood stiffly at my side. "I hope you'll go back to singing soon."

"Oh you _are _a fan!" Lanna squealed happily, throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me much in the same way Julia had when I first met her - except I didn't take too kindly to this sudden show of affection. "I'm so glad there's at least someone here who appreciates good music! Barely anyone here has listened to my songs. Except the guys, but they don't count because they were probably just watching my video." I wasn't exactly sure what to say to this and just fake laughed. I kind of understood why Natalie hated her. She was obnoxious.

When Natalie came back over she glared at Lanna as she said, "We're going to have tea." The postscript of this clearly said, 'so fuck off'.

The idol shot a dirty look at Natalie before turning to me and asking, "Why don't you come and drink with me? You can hang out with these two later, can't you?" I could tell she was only asking this to get one over on Natalie and I hated that she was putting me in this position. I really didn't want to have to make enemies on my first day, but I knew I had to choose and I naturally chose my guides.

"Sorry, I promised I'd hang out with them all day today. We were meant to be touring around the town so I could get used to where everything is, but had to come in here because of the rain, so we're not staying long," I replied with the fakest, brightest smile I could muster. "So sorry."

Lanna's smile dropped and she looked at me with the same dirty look she shot Natalie. "Well, it's your loss. I won't offer again."

Hearing this, I couldn't stop myself from scoffing and saying, "Loss that I don't have to sit and listen to you talk about yourself? Pfft. Whatever."

She looked visibly disgruntled when she heard this and from the corner of my eye I could see Natalie smiling nastily. Lanna turned on her heel and headed back to her table with a scowl as Natalie began to titter evilly to herself while Julia sighed in frustration. We sat at a table on the opposite side of the cafe from Lanna while Natalie went to pick up the tray of tea cups and brought it over. Once we were settled down, I looked around the cafe and noticed that there were quite a number of people around us. I noticed a girl sitting alone in a corner with a book in front of her and was struck by how pretty she was. She had long, sleek black hair, very pale skin and kind of looked like a bespectacled Audrey Hepburn. I nudged Julia. "Who is that?"

"Oh, that's Sabrina. We told you about her last night, remember?" Julia said as Natalie continued to smile evilly in Lanna's direction. "Would you stop that? Why are you picking a fight with her already? It's so early in the day to have to deal with her. You're in one of those moods today, aren't you?"

"Yeah, about that," I jumped in. "Why were you glaring at Denny earlier? You looked like you were about to sucker punch him," I asked as I wrapped my hands around the teacup in an attempt to absorb its warmth.

"I just don't like him," Natalie replied bitterly before taking a sip of her tea. "Everything about him irritates me."

Julia quirked an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not just saying that because Lanna's got her hooks in him? You know he's only been flirting with her because of that pop video. I'm sure Pierre would have done the same if he hadn't met you first."

"Pierre wouldn't be that shallow," Natalie replied angrily. "Denny's just a horn dog."

"What did you think of him by the way?" Julia asked me with a wink. "He's hot isn't he?"

"Yeah, he's hot. Probably about as hot as your boyfriend," I said slyly. "Elliot walked into the kitchen with his shirt off this morning. Holy bejesus that was a surprise." Natalie started to choke on her tea while Julia started grinning smugly.

"I know right?" she said. "It's a good thing he doesn't show it off more; otherwise Lanna would have jumped all over him by now."

Once she was done coughing, Natalie snapped, "Don't be disgusting. My brother is not hot. No matter what you or Julia say. The only reason he's that muscled is because of all the lifting gramps makes him do. He's nothing special."

"If you say so, but I reckon Julia got herself a diamond in a rough there," I replied, toasting Julia with my teacup as Natalie shuddered.

Just then my cell phone went off, playing the latest chiptek song I'd downloaded at full blast and causing other customers in the cafe to look round at me. After spending ages trying to fish it out of my pocket, I glanced at the caller ID and groaned. "What the fuck do you want?" I asked into the receiver when I answered.

"Have you settled in yet?" Mark asked into the receiver.

"Why the hell do you care? Don't fucking call me," I snapped, hanging up and putting the phone on the table. My new friends stared at me in awe.

"Was that your ex?" Julia asked.

I nodded.

"What did he want?" she asked again, obviously wanting more details.

"I don't know and I don't care," I replied angrily. I wanted to change the subject. I didn't like being reminded of Mark. It brought back painful memories and emotions that I wanted to lock away. It pissed me off even more that he was checking up on me, like he actually cared. It made me wonder if maybe he had just made a mistake and that he didn't want to break up with me and leave me behind. And that maybe, just maybe, he really did care and was worried about me.

The concerned expressions of my new friends jolted me out of my reverie and I saw a teardrop land on the table in front of me. I had started crying without realising it.


	6. Dance

**Note from the Author:** *insert disclaimer here...* Cowboy sexiness enterth. Yes, I know Vaughn doesn't actually have any family in the games, but I feel like he's pretty much part of Julia's family anyways and I wanted him to be connected somehow.

Oh! And if you don't understand my reference to Ennio Morricone and the song 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly', go youtube it and you'll immediately recognise it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

_Dance_

The following two weeks were a bit of a blur to me. I met so many people and learned so many things about the Sunshine Islands that I could probably talk to you for hours about it, but I figure you don't really want to hear the details so I'll skip to the important bits.

After Taro had shown me the ropes around the farm, I was so busy in the first couple of days with unpacking my stuff and various other chores. Gannon had done a wonderful job on my farmhouse. It looked like a completely different building when he had finished working his magic and I fell in love with the old-fashioned, farmhouse furniture that he had made for me as a welcoming gift. With my house ready, I thanked Mirabelle and Julia for their hospitality and moved into my new home.

Once I was officially moved in, I spent most of my time in the first week unpacking, sorting out utility providers and such. I phoned my dad quite a few times because I was freaking out about what I had to do. I had never actually lived on my own before. Okay, sure, I had lived alone at uni, but that was one room in a large block of dorms and I hadn't had to sort out where I was going to get my water, gas, electricity and so on. Although still angry at me for moving out for such a ridiculous reason, he talked me through it all and eventually I had mostly everything sorted. I had a bit of a problem with getting an internet and phone line in my house, since there hadn't actually been a working phone line into the place before, but I was eventually hooked up by the end of the weekend.

The Harvest Goddess Festival happened pretty much a week after my arrival. What with all the various things I had to sort out, I had completely forgot about it until Julia showed up at my farm on Monday morning with a wide grin and a package for me. The package contained the dress she was making me wear for the festival, along with a gorgeous pair of shoes that she carried in a box under her arm. I then also learned that the festival was happening that Wednesday. In less than three days time. I would have freaked out about if I hadn't been so tired, but since I'd been working from dawn till dusk for pretty much three days straight, I didn't have the energy to complain and bitch about being reminded late.

In order to prepare for the festival, Julia and Natalie dragged me off to Goddess Island to meet Alisa, the priestess in charge of the event. The moment I met sweet, chaste Alisa I immediately wanted to befriend her. She's one of those rare people that are accepting of everyone and refuse to see the bad in other people; she naively believes that everyone has the propensity for good and that no one does bad things just because they can. Her purity and the absence of the judgemental attitude that I had grown so used to when I hung around with other girls (like Natalie) was like a breath of fresh air. While Natalie regarded her innocence as somewhat annoying, I figured that Natalie found most people annoying to varying degrees and decided to ignore her griping. Alisa seemed elated that I was so friendly and promised to come over and help me out on the farm so I could get in some practise time.

Knowing that I had only just arrived to the islands and was relatively busy, she immediately put me through a crash course on how the festival worked and showed me the various dance moves that I would have to learn. She told me that the dance was split into two parts; the first part being a choreographed dance and the second part involved slow dancing with a partner. While I was alarmed that I would need a partner for the second part, I quickly forgot about it and concentrated on learning the choreography for the first part. Thankfully I'm a quick learner and picked it up pretty quickly, and by Tuesday I was able to practise along with the other girls from town. I must admit though, it was hard work trying to catch up like that! Trying to learn the dance routine in less than three days whilst trying to get what I needed to do on the farm done was so tiring that by the day of the Festival I was absolutely exhausted and began wondering if maybe Taro had been right. What if I didn't have the stamina for this?

On the morning of the festival I woke up an hour earlier than usual so I could get my farm chores done and leave enough time for me to prepare for the festival later in the evening. It was as I was getting ready that it suddenly occurred to me that I didn't have a date to go with and I rang up Julia to ask if this would be a problem. I figured that Denny would probably have been asked already and it seemed as though every eligible bachelor on the island had literally been taken. Julia didn't freak out about it though. In fact, she sounded suspiciously calm and I immediately knew that she was up to something.

"Don't worry about it, darling," Julia crooned over the phone to me. "Just look fabulous when you turn up."

While I probably should have worried about it back then, I just couldn't be bothered and did as I was told. I turned up to the festival wearing the dress and shoes she'd brought me, and had tied my hair up in my favourite hair clip. The dress was a ridiculously short white mini-dress that clung to my body like a sock does on a foot. Matched with the pair of white platform heels, I looked like I had just stepped off the set of one of Lanna's music videos and I felt horribly uncomfortable.

I generally hate wearing overtly sexy clothes. Since I had spent most of my adolescent youth shying away from the attention of guys other than Mark, I had fallen into this state of mind where I thought I didn't need to show off. 'Why should I bother looking sexy when I already have a boyfriend?' I used to think to myself. 'What good would it do?' Later during my last years of high school, my attitude changed; instead of not being bothered on the grounds that I already had a boyfriend, I began thinking that it just wouldn't suit me, period. So when I put that dress on and saw that I looked pretty damned hot in it, I was very pleasantly surprised. And everyone else seemed to think so too, because when I turned up at Meadow island Julia was squealing with excitement and all the girls started gushing about how pretty I looked. I had half expected them to look at me with disgust, but they didn't. They were all dressed in a similar fashion and I felt a little more comfortable about what I was wearing when I stood next to Julia, who was dressed in an almost identical outfit, but in black.

The event itself started at four o'clock and the dance was set to start half an hour later. That left me with thirty minutes of standing around looking awkward while my friends and the other dancers canoodled with their boyfriends. I stood sulkily with Alisa at the refreshments table as I saw Julia disappear somewhere into the crowds. And yes, I meant crowds. There were hundreds of people there and I could literally feel the iron grip of fear twisting at my innards.

"I'm going to fall on my ass!" I jittered to Alisa as I looked around at the crowds.

"You'll do fine, just enjoy yourself," Alisa said with a sweet smile that was less than reassuring. She then headed off to speak to the band that would be playing the music we'd be dancing to and I stood alone at the table clutching a plastic cup filled with coke, trying to calm my nerves and psyche myself up.

It was then that I spotted Julia again, but this time she had someone in tow whom I hadn't seen before. I couldn't see him clearly until they were out of the crowds and standing in front of me, and I had to hold on to the edge of the refreshment table for support when I was able to completely look at him. I can't describe how I was feeling at that moment when I laid my eyes on him. All I can do is tell you about this theory I have: I believe that people are all like pieces of clay. We change shape as time goes by and are altered by our circumstances, evolving so we can adapt to our environment. Following that train of thought, we are also moulded and changed by the people we meet. Each person leaves a distinct imprint on us and it varies from person to person. Needless to say, Julia and Natalie left deep, long lasting imprints on me. But this guy, who Julia had introduced me to that day, left the deepest imprint of all. I just didn't know it at the time.

"Chelsea, this is my cousin Vaughn," Julia said with a broad grin. "He's also our livestock dealer, so most of the animals you'll be buying from my Ma originally belonged to him. He comes to the islands every Wednesday and Thursday and since today's Wednesday I figured he might as well come along."

Vaughn was drop dead gorgeous. I was instantly attracted to him and I think my mouth actually dropped open when I saw him. Like Skye he had silver hair, though it was mostly covered up by the Stetson hat he wore, and he had dark violet eyes that looked like they could see right through me. Those eyes appraised me suspiciously as I stared up into his handsome face and felt a rush of anxiety run through me. He was a big guy, probably around six foot three, with broad shoulders that made him look even more imposing and it was obvious that he was quite muscled underneath that black shirt he was wearing. With a strong jaw, high cheekbones and a perfectly proportioned nose, he looked like he could have easily been a model.

Okay... so _maybe_ he was dressed like a cowboy that had just stepped out of a spaghetti western film. And maybe, if I wasn't so bowled over by how good looking he was, I probably would have cracked a joke about how I could almost hear Ennio Morricone's 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' playing somewhere in the distance. But all my jokes and smart-ass comments were banished as I stared into his weird purple-blue eyes of his.

"N-Nice to meet you!" I said, probably a little too loudly, as I stuck out my hand for him to shake.

He looked at my hand as if I was holding out a turd, but he begrudgingly shook it anyway. "Hello." One word. That's all he said. But even so, I felt a heat rising from between my legs when I heard his voice. I'm one of those girls who cream themselves over guys with sexy voices and Vaughn had a _very_ sexy voice – it was deep, smooth and slightly accented with the same southern lilt that Julia's had.

I laughed nervously as I tried not to drool and extracted my hand from his much larger one with great difficulty. It was probably glaringly obvious to everyone how sexy I thought he was, since my face tends to get very very red when I'm embarrassed or turned on. Considering the fact that I was feeling both emotions, it's safe to say that I probably looked a bit like a tomato.

"Since I didn't want you to be left out to the side standing on your own, I asked Vaughn to do you a prop and dance with you today so you wouldn't be left out," Julia said.

The colour drained from my face and I looked at her in horror. "What?" There was no way I could dance with Vaughn; I would literally go weak at the knees and be unable to dance.

I think she was probably shocked by my reaction because she stammered, "I-Is there a problem? I thought you'd be happy to have a dance partner."

"I-It's not that it's just..." but I trailed off as I turned to look back at Vaughn, who had begun staring down at me with contempt.

"You don't want to dance with me," he said. I'm not sure if this was meant to be a question or a statement, but regardless, my mind was screaming in protest. It wasn't that I didn't want to dance with him! It's that I would probably melt into the floor if I tried!

"N-No, it's fine. I just... didn't expect to have a partner like you," I managed to say.

"Like me?" He was clearly offended by this.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it rudely. It's just that..." I trailed off again, fidgeting under his gaze.

"She's just shy!" Julia said shrilly. I looked up at her and saw her giving me a forced, crazed smile that I read to mean, 'For godsakes, just smile and pretend you're happy!'

"Sorry," I said again, wishing for a reprieve from the agonising embarrassment I was feeling.

Vaughn grunted and turned to stalk off somewhere, leaving me alone with Julia whose expression darkened the minute he was out of earshot.

"What's your problem?" she asked me incredulously. "Aren't you pleased?"

"It's not that," I said, covering my face up with my hands as I felt a fresh wave of embarrassment run through me. "I'm just so embarrassed. He's way too good looking– I wish you'd given me some warning. I'm going to get a nosebleed if I get too close to him."

Julia started laughing. "Don't be so stupid! It's only Vaughn. He's a bit of a dickhead actually, so don't let his good looks go to your head. He's got an attitude problem, as you've already seen, so just try to focus on his negative points before you start falling for him."

Once again, I was bowled over by Julia's harsh appraisal of her nearest and dearest and looked at her with a bemused expression until we heard Alisa's voice over a loudspeaker calling for the dancers to assemble. When I heard the announcement, I felt my stomach churn and thought I would vomit. I probably looked a bit green because Julia put her arms around my shoulders and said, "Relax and pretend that everyone is naked."

"I'll collapse if I do that, since I'll immediately imagine your cousin first," I said, trying to joke weakly as she led me up towards the stage.

As the music that I had grown sick of hearing over the past three days began to play, I realised from the looks of the audience that this dance that we were doing was not what they had been expecting. Although the dance itself wasn't overly raunchy and the music was just a weird, remixed pop-version of happy birthday that was dedicated to the Harvest Goddess, they all seemed completely surprised by it. I reckon we probably looked like an all girl pop band or something, since I spotted a couple of guys staring up at us with the same dazed expressions I'd often seen guys wearing when they'd just watched Lanna's infamous pop video.

Scanning the crowd anxiously, I spotted Vaughn somewhere in the middle. Watching with his arms folded across his chest, I noticed with growing horror that his eyes were following me. My mind raced and my heart pounded. Why was he staring at me? Or maybe he wasn't staring at me at all? He was probably staring at Sabrina right? Since she was next to me? But what if _was_ staring at me? My concentration suddenly slipped and I stumbled slightly, almost tripping up over my own feet, but I managed to regain my balance and finished the dance off without anymore cock ups.

When it was finally over and we took our bow, I suddenly felt the fatigue of overexerting myself start to weigh down on me and I visibly sagged as we clattered down the stairs towards the make shift dance floor that had appeared in the middle of the field. Wooden panels had been laid over the grass for the event and as my heels clicked across the wood surface I wondered how stupid I must have looked when I stumbled earlier during the first part of the dance. I somehow found my way to Vaughn and, like all the other girls had with their respective partners, I took him by the hand and led him into the middle as Alisa had instructed us to do. I think I must have been shaking because suddenly I felt Vaughn's grip on my hand tighten as I led him and somehow I found this reassuring. Turning round to face him as we reached an open space, I was surprised to see him smirking down at me with amusement.

"Wh-What is it?" I mumbled.

"Nothing," he said, and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me close as he took my hand. The swiftness and confidence he did this with surprised me and I stared up at him in bewilderment as the music started and we began to sway together in time to the music. The way he held me made me feel as if he was trying to hold me up and support me, and I felt myself sag and relax in his arms. I was ever so tempted to close the gap between us and lay my head on his chest, but I stopped myself when I remembered the look he'd given me when I'd given him my hand to shake.

I lazily stared around at the other couples around us, all of which seemed to be in love-love mode since they were all snuggled up to one another. Vaughn and I were the only couple that were dancing at a distance from each other and I felt myself blush as I noticed that Sabrina was watching us with an amused smile while her date, a random guy that I knew worked as miner on Volcano Island, babbled at her nervously. I sighed and Vaughn asked "You're tired aren't you?"

"Yeah," I replied lamely.

"You shouldn't try so hard," Vaughn said, his thumb stroking the back of my hand gently as he spoke. This sent tingles up my arm and I went rigid.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told him.

"You're tired from work and from learning that dance. Next time, don't try so hard." He glanced down at me just as I looked up at him questioningly. "Don't forget that most of these girls don't have strenuous jobs like you do, so you don't need to work so hard to keep up with them."

I wondered why on earth Julia called this gorgeous cousin of hers a dickhead. From what I could see, he was actually quite gentle hearted and seemed genuinely concerned about me. Little did I realise that the man was more than just a bit bi-polar.

"Taro told me that I should put an effort in with events and I didn't have much of a choice in the matter since Julia and Alisa were so dead set on me dancing today. I must admit, my feet are killing me," I said, trying to readjust my foot inside my shoe. "I hate wearing clothes like this, but Julia kept insisting and I ended up caving in. I figured it would be easier to just go with it than struggle. At least I'm getting some exercise, right? And maybe I'll build up some stamina as a result of this." Okay, so I babbled a bit. But I was nervous, so sue me.

"Stupid," Vaughn said in response once I'd finished jabbering. He said the word with such force and negativity that I was surprised and looked up at him uncertainly. Was he talking about me? He read my expression and said, "Yes, I'm referring to you."

Affronted by this, I felt my jaw clench and my grip on Vaughn's hand loosened in distaste as I glowered up at him. "Yeah, thanks for that," I said sarcastically in response. Okay, maybe Julia was right - Vaughn really was a bit of a twat.

When the dance ended, I was the first girl to extract herself from her partner and left him without a word of thanks. I immediately headed over to the refreshments table where I was headed off by Natalie and Julia. I told them what Vaughn said and Julia looked furious while Natalie looked amused.

"He's such a jerk," Julia bit out, folding her arms crossly. "I don't know how he can be related to me. I bet that's why his hair is grey! The Harvest Goddess must be punishing him for being so mean to everyone."

"The hair thing is genetic. I've got a friend called Skye who has exactly the same hair and he says it's a genetic anomaly that's inherited," I said thoughtfully. "Though, Skye might have been lying. He's a bit of a heart breaker, so it wouldn't surprise me if this Harvest Goddess person was smiting him too."

Natalie scoffed. "Well, whatever the reason, he looks hella old with that hair. He's hot and everything, but he looks like he could be our father."

"He's only twenty eight," Julia said. I had a thing for older guys and I felt something tugging at my heart strings when I heard this. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. He's a jerk Chelsea, I'm sorry I made you dance with him. I thought that maybe he would behave himself today, but I guess he can't be trusted. To be honest, what he said to you was pretty tame in comparison to some of the things he's said to other people."

"Right..." I said grimly. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"


	7. Confrontation and Determination

**Note from the Author:** *insert disclaimer here...* Thanks for the reviews so far! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I just hope I can keep it going. ZOMG Pressure! Oh, and I've enabled anonymous reviews now, since I didn't realise I had it off before. I apologise for any OoCness from Vaughn; he is a problem character for me to write. ('-')"

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

_Confrontation and Determination_

After the dance was over and people had started filtering off of Meadow Island, Natalie and Julia convinced me to come along with them to the bar where there was apparently going to be an after-party of sorts. I was absolutely exhausted from all the clearing and cleaning I'd been doing that past week, but seeing Julia's eager face made me feel guilty and so I ended up going anyway. Needless to say, I ended up passing out in the corner only thirty minutes after arriving. I didn't wake up until an hour later when the owner of the bar set up the karaoke set and called Lanna up to sing.

"Great, just what I wanted to wake up to," I grumbled to no one in particular as she began to sing the ridiculous lyrics to 'Bubble Pop' which I had woken up to. No one heard me and so I slumped back into my seat until cheers and applause went up around me when Lanna had finished singing.

"Ah! Look! Chelsea's awake!" I suddenly heard someone say. I looked to where the voice was coming from and saw that it was Will, the blonde pretty boy that lived on the yacht at Sprout island's dock. "Denny, go and get those shots!" My first impression of Will was that he was probably the creepiest guy I've ever met. I don't know why he's creepy; he just is. I can't pin point whether it's the overuse of his hand gestures, the slightly insane look he gets in his eyes when he's excited or his ridiculously flowery language, but it all culminates into me getting the willies every time I see him – no pun intended.

I was still fatigued after my nap and I was barely able to wake myself up properly when suddenly a small shot glass filled with bright pink liquid was thrust into my hand. My eyes drifted from the shot glass to the table. There, on a plastic tray, were about seven shots that were in all the colours of the rainbow. I glanced up at everyone and saw that while most of the girls seemed preoccupied with the karaoke, the boys were staring at me with an unnatural amount of interest. I suddenly felt like a lamb in a lion's den.

"I don't really feel like drinking," I told them bluntly, putting the shot glass down on the table gently. "Why do you want me to do shots anyway?"

"Oh, come now dear heart," Will urged me, looking disheartened that I wasn't interested. "This is our welcome gift to you, our beautiful new flower. Since we haven't had much of a chance to spend time with you since you arrived, we thought we'd do something nice for you. Besides, Denny's already bought them now. We couldn't possibly take them back."

My eyes darted over to the handsome fisherman who was smiling apologetically at me and I felt myself blush. Guilty, I picked the shot up again and inspected it warily. It was fluorescent pink and probably had an insane amount of e-numbers in it. "Cheers?" I said unsurely, raising the shot glass up in a mock toast. I then gulped down the shot and slammed the glass back on the table as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. It tasted like alcoholic strawberries and I had to stop myself from gagging.

"Oh god, what _is_ that?" I asked disgustedly, pulling a face at the flavour.

"It's Will's favourite drink," Denny said. "Frais de bois." Go figures that it'd be some posh sounding French crap. I resisted the urge to wipe it off my tongue and eyed the other shots warily. I was starting to feel dizzy and really didn't want to drink the rest of the shots, but I felt guilty because Denny had just bought all of them for me. Alcohol was not cheap at that bar, as I had seen on the way in when I scanned the drinks list above the bar. As a result of it being so remote, alcohol on the Sunshine Islands was a great deal more expensive than back in the city. I eyed Will and Denny sourly before I reached over to take another shot, a purple one this time.

"You don't have to if you're not feeling well," Denny said suddenly, reaching across to stop me. When our hands touched, I looked up to find that his face was just a few inches away from mine. "Don't drink it," he told me, his eyes filled with concern. "You should go home and rest. I don't know why Julia dragged you here when you're so tired." He turned towards the group of girls that were crowded around the karaoke song-list book and called sternly, "Julia, bring Chelsea home. She's not up for this tonight."

I stared up at Denny with admiration and gratitude. A lock of his curly hair had somehow escaped his bandana and fell into his face so charmingly that I wanted to reach out and play with it.

"Oh Chelsea, I'm sorry! Julia said, cringing as she hurried over and started helping me up. "I'm really really sorry. I didn't realise you were this unwell."

"Unwell?" I parroted.

She put a hand to my forehead. "You're all flushed. You've got a fever."

Oh great, I thought. I'm sick already and I've only been here a week. I remember hearing Julia and Denny arguing about where they should bring me, since they couldn't leave me alone at home, and they eventually settled on bringing me back to Julia's place. Natalie and Julia pretty much had to drag me there and when we got inside I saw to my abject horror that Vaughn was sitting at the back of the shop with a magazine. He took one look at me as we came in and said, "As I said, stupid."

"Go fuck yourself," I said viciously before I could stop myself.

He stiffened and Julia jumped. I shocked even myself. Natalie didn't seem that surprised by my outburst though and merely hurried me up the stairs as Vaughn watched us, his mouth hanging open in outrage.

After that everything seemed a bit like a blur. I remember thinking that I was glad I hadn't planted my first lot of seeds yet, since I wouldn't have been around to water them if I had. My two friends had put me to bed up in Julia's room and nursed me through the night as I slept dreamlessly. I hadn't realised how sick I was until I woke up in the early hours of the morning before the sun had risen. I was covered in sweat and there was a stale taste in my mouth from the liquor shot a few hours earlier. Glancing across the room, I saw Julia asleep in an armchair while Natalie was curled up on the floor like a cat, with covers thrown over her. I was surprised to see her there, since I thought she would have gone home, and felt warmed at the fact that she had been worried enough to stick around.

I forced myself to rest for a few more hours and when I woke up again later that morning I was greeted by a painful throbbing in my head and my lips felt horribly dry from dehydration. "Get up," someone to my left said. The voice was deep and sexy but I didn't immediately connect the dots and realise who it was. I blinked at the sudden burst of light as someone wrenched the curtains in the room open and after my eyes adjusted I shrieked when I saw who it was. Vaughn stood by the curtains sullenly.

"W-What are you doing here?" I yelled, pulling the bedcovers up over myself in mortification. I clearly remembered what had happened the night before and still felt quite pissed with him for calling me stupid not just once, but twice.

"Mirabelle told me to wake you up since breakfast is ready. Julia went round to Taro's place to cajole Elliot into doing your farm chores for today and Natalie's disappeared somewhere," he explained, taking a seat in the armchair which Julia had been asleep in before. "You really are a moron."

"Yes, you've made it quite clear to me how you see me," I snapped. Three times...

"You should be more responsible than this. You've got everyone ridiculously worried about you just because you pushed yourself to the limit. I know that Julia is partly to blame, but it's still your fault for not standing up to her. Do you always let yourself get pushed around by other people? Grow a back bone."

"Stop talking to me as if you know me," I spat back angrily. I was incensed that he had the nerve to tell me off when he didn't even know me. Okay, sure, he was right, but I was still sick and didn't take too kindly to being chastised by a stranger when I'd only just opened my eyes.

"You're right, I don't know you, but I know that you're stupid."

"And I know that you're a prick," I yelled back. I heard a clatter of pots and voices downstairs, but ignored it. "You don't know jack shit about me and yet you've got the nerve to judge me. Who the fuck do you think you are?"

His expression darkened and he rose from his seat. I thought he was going to leave the room but instead he suddenly closed in on me and was leaning over the bed with his hands either side of me, his face only a couple of inches away from mine. His eyes burned with rage and I flinched back instinctively, a shiver running up my spine as I stared up at him. He was trying to scare me and it was working.

"Don't use that coarse language with me, city girl. I know enough about you to know that your motivation for being here is appalling and quite frankly childish," he said quietly, his eyes remaining fixed on mine as I stared up at him fearfully. Taro had obviously told him. "You need to grow up and go back to where you came from because you don't belong here. I don't want your sort influencing my cousin."

I expected him to move away after this, but he didn't and we stayed stock still, silently looking at each other. Although I was quite frightened of him, I was still somehow affected by his good looks and I felt my heart beating an erratic rhythm in my chest at his nearness. I hated myself for finding himself so attractive. I felt like a magnet trying to struggle away from something it's attracted to and I was all but squirming from his proximity. Meanwhile, his gaze seemed to slowly soften and I saw his eyes drop lower towards my lips. I might have imagined it, but I thought that he was beginning to lean in and close the gap between us but suddenly the door to the room was thrown wide open. I rolled over onto my side and Vaughn looked over his shoulder.

"What on earth are you doing?" Mirabelle yelled, seeing Vaughn leaning towards me as I cowered away from him. He obviously looked quite menacing because Mirabelle looked thunderously angry at the position we were in. "Get away from her this minute! How dare you bully a young woman when she's sick? Get back, get back!" Mirabelle rushed forward and pretty much dragged Vaughn away from me, smacking him around the back of the head as if he was a naughty child that had been caught putting his hand in the cookie jar. I must admit, I was quite impressed by her strength. "I told you to wake her up, not accost her in that unsightly fashion! You're just like your father! Out! OUT!"

"Mirabelle, it's alright," I said, trying to placate her as Vaughn flinched at her strikes and started retreating out of the room.

"No, it's not alright!" Mirabelle replied crossly. "He's always like this with people!"

I was surprised that Vaughn wasn't protesting and I heard his heavy footsteps heading down the stairs as Mirabelle turned to me, looking flustered. I think that was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life and I had to cover my hand over my mouth to hide the smirk I was wearing. Once she was calmer, Mirabelle turned to me and asked, "Would you like some breakfast dear?" She asked it almost as if she hadn't just bitch slapped a grown man out of the room.

"Y-Yes please," I mumbled, struggling to contain my laughter as I followed Mirabelle down the stairs while replaying the memory over in my head.

I tried not to dwell too much on what had just happened between Vaughn and I, but I found it hard to stop thinking about it when I entered the kitchen and found him sat that dining table with a newspaper in hand. His eyes slinked over me as I came in before they returned back to his newspaper as if nothing had happened. I thought to myself that I probably imagined him leaning towards me. It was quite obvious he hated me.

After hurriedly eating some breakfast, I went back up to Julia's room and looked around for my mobile phone so I could phone Julia. I still felt kind of crabby, but I didn't want to inconvenience anyone further and I was eager to get back to my farm. I had seeds to plant and I needed to commission Gannon to fix up the barn so I could start raising livestock. When I found my phone I saw that I had several missed calls. They were all from Mark. I wasn't sure what came over me, but for some reason I pressed the call button.

"Chelsea," he breathed on the end of the phone when he picked up on the first ring.

I didn't say anything for a moment as I tried to conquer the sudden rush of emotion I felt at hearing his voice again. I collapsed to my knees and tried not to cry, my grip on my phone tightening painfully. He sounded so forlorn and glad to hear from me.

"What do you want?" I croaked out. "Why do you keep calling me?"

"I miss you," he said, his voice sounding as broken as my own.

I covered my mouth to stop myself from saying anything. I wanted to ask him to take me back. I wanted to return to his side, which had always been a place of comfort for me. I wanted to feel his arms around me again, comforting me and telling me that everything would be alright. I felt empty knowing that he wasn't there for me anymore. I wanted to tell him that I still loved him, still needed him. But my pride wouldn't let me; he had wounded me and I didn't want to set myself up for injury again. Once bitten, twice shy, or so the saying goes.

I buried the words I longed to say and wiped my eyes as I steeled myself. "Sorry Mark, I can't do this. Please, don't call me anymore." I hung up and dropped the phone as I started bawling my eyes out.

After crying for what felt like hours but was actually only a few minutes, I hurriedly got dressed in the clothes that Julia had laid out for me and thanked Mirabelle before heading home. I completely ignored Vaughn as I passed him. Holding my head up and sticking my chin up indignantly, I tried my best to look confident, determined and over my illness as I headed back home, but inside I was shaking. Speaking to Mark had rocked my determination to stay on the farm, to compete with him. I wanted to run to him, to forgive him and beg him to take me back. And I knew he wanted me to.

Stood before the endless fields of my farm, I felt despair fall over me when I realised how long it would take for me to clear it all. I had only managed to clear a small part of it since arriving, having been distracted by the festival, moving all my stuff into the farmhouse, sorting out utility bills and various other odd jobs. Would it even be worth planting the strawberry seeds I'd just bought? Would they mature in time before the seasons changed? Was it really worth staying here? The thought of the ceaseless work I would have to do dragged on my determination and I felt my knees give way. I was wimp. I wanted to give up already and it hadn't been a full week yet.

But then, I got the kick up the ass that I needed.

My phone beeped at me and I pulled it out to see I'd gotten a message. It was from Ellie. When I opened the message I saw that it wasn't a picture of her and Trent as I had been expected, but was instead a picture of Mark at a bar I didn't recognise, with a pretty blonde wearing a maid's outfit sitting on his lap. And he was grinning. At first I thought to myself how maybe it was an accident and that maybe someone had pushed the girl into his lap, but as I peered closely at the picture and zoomed in, I saw that he had laced his fingers with hers and that his other hand was placed comfortably on her upper thigh. I felt utterly betrayed. Struggling to stay calm as I looked down at the picture, I had to consciously tell myself not to break my phone in fury. Instead, I decided to do something else. I took a picture of my farm and sent it to Ellie, Trent, Skye and my dad and then snapped it shut.

I then worked like a madwoman. For the entire day I slaved away at clearing the field, pulling up weeds, shifting rocks and chopping up logs in the way. Even though I was still weak with a fever, I kept working, shooing Julia and Natalie off when they came over to tell me to return to bed. I would sleep once I was done clearing, I had told them. Their protests fell on deaf ears when they tried to convince me to just rest first. My burning desire for revenge, to win against and beat Mark consumed me. It gave me the energy to work tirelessly regardless of how weak I felt. Whenever I felt the tug of fatigue I would pull out my phone and stare at the picture until I felt angry enough to continue. Rage is fantastic motivator.

When I was finally done in the early hours of the morning I pulled my phone out one more time and took a picture of the cleared field. I sent it to the four same people as before and then trudged into my farmhouse where I passed out on my living room couch, dreaming of dancing vegetables, cowboy hats and Mark.


	8. Water

**Note from the Author:** Uwah, thanks for the reviews guys! I'm glad you're enjoying reading it, 'cus I'm having a lot of fun writing it. I once again had problems trying to write Vaughn's dialogue for this chapter though. Although I keep telling myself that I need to reign in my portrayal of Vaughn, my Vaughn-muse is all like 'No! I want to do this. I want to say that.' etc. Fail muses IMO. Anyway, I promise this story _is_ going somewhere, just bear with me. x_x

But yeah, enjoy! Nice comments and reviews are appreciated! And apologies for any of typos and grammar screw ups. ;-;"

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><p><strong>Chapter Eight<strong>

_Water_

Those two pictures I sent my loved ones back home worried them. My dad rang me the next morning when he'd received the second one and told me off for working myself too hard, threatening to take me home if I over did it. I had to lie to him and tell him I was fine, even though I had confined myself to my bed for the rest of the next day. Shortly after he rang off I received a call from Ellie who ranted to me about Mark. I tiredly told her about how things were on the islands and she promised me that she'd come and visit me in the fall when her exams were over. Before ringing off she passed the phone to Trent and he pretty much told me the same thing my dad did: don't overdo it. He made me promise him that I would look after myself before he hung up, and I felt a bit teary eyed that they were all so concerned about me.

In spite of their concern, I didn't spend long resting. After spending the following day in bed, only getting up to make myself some stew and take some medication, I turned my attention back to work. As I sat in the little kitchenette of my farmhouse with my laptop and a notebook out in front of me, I researched the various different crops I could grow in the spring and found out that turnips were the fastest growing vegetable I could grow in the time I had left. I promptly bought some turnip seeds from Chen, the owner of the general store in town, and set about planting them. I was determined to throw myself into my work as much as possible so I could forget about Mark. It didn't really work though. You see, even if farming is hard work and requires a lot of physical effort, a lot of the time you don't really need to concentrate all that hard. Your mind can wander as you're ploughing the field or watering the crops. And my mind wandered often. It wandered off the farm, off the islands and back to my university. To the places Mark and I used to go. To my family and friends.

By the time Spring drew to a close, the farm was looking how I had originally wanted it to. I had made the right decision in choosing to plant turnips rather than strawberries and while the turnips weren't exactly perfect, at least they were pretty much ready to be harvested and I was excited at the prospect of getting them shipped and being paid for the first time. As I stood proudly looking out over my neatly tended fields, I felt a slice of contentment that I hadn't felt since the break up. While my body ached, it was a good ache that told me that I had worked as hard as I could and it left me feeling quite satisfied with myself. My blue eyes glided over to my barn, which Gannon had just finished fixing up, and I knew that I would soon have to see Vaughn again if I wanted to get any other animals. So far I only had a cat and dog called 'Slap' and 'Tickle', and a lazy horse called 'Bottom', all three of which served no purpose except to irritate me by shedding fur everywhere or crapping on my shoes.

I'd been steadfastly avoiding going to Julia's house on Wednesday and Thursdays after the altercation between me and the cowboy. Thankfully, he was there only two days of the week and most of the time he slept over at the hotel on Sprout Island. As a result of my obvious and quite justified evasion of him, Julia and Natalie spent a lot of their time bumming around my farm and watching me work. They only worked part time for their families and so they had a lot more free time on their hands than I did, and somehow they gravitated to my farm whenever they were bored. I'm not really sure why they decided to attach themselves to me, but I have to admit that I was glad for it, since those times when I was alone made me a little stir-crazy and I would always somehow end up thinking in circles about Mark.

One day at the beginning of summer, after I had harvested my turnips and started planting my tomato and onion seeds, Natalie came over to the farm alone. Julia had been tied up at the animal shop working on the accounting books for her mother, and so Natalie had popped over on her own to watch me work. She sat on the fence as I planted the seeds and watered the soil liberally, her eyes following me like a hawk as I moved.

"You made a lot of money from that last harvest of turnips," she suddenly said. "My grandfather was really surprised. The quality of the crops wasn't spectacular, but you managed to plant so many that it didn't really matter all that much. He was surprised that you even knew that turnips were the best vegetable for you to start out with."

"Yeah," I replied, smiling to myself. "I realised that all the strawberry seeds I bought wouldn't grow in time and so I did a bit of research on the internet."

"God bless the internet," Natalie said with a grin. "My grandfather was impressed though," she added. I glanced over at her and saw that she was smiling approvingly at me.

"What's up? There's obviously something on your mind or you wouldn't have brought this up so suddenly," I said, straightening up and dusting the dirt off my knees. "You don't usually make small talk about my work."

She rolled her eyes upward briefly before they settled back on me sternly. "I few weeks ago I heard Vaughn talking to my grandfather about the real reason you're here. Something about a bet with your ex-boyfriend. I was going to ask you about it earlier, but you were working so hard that I didn't want to disturb you."

I felt a stab of guilt and looked away. "Please don't tell Julia and Mirabelle."

"Oh don't worry. I won't tell them, and I'm guessing Vaughn won't either, since he hasn't said anything to them about it," Natalie said. "I'm just wondering if you're gonna stay here after the two years are up and you've won. I'm assuming you'll win because you seem to be making a pretty good start of things."

I thought about the question carefully before shrugging and saying, "There's nothing left for me back home."

"And what if you and that ex of yours get back together?"

Grimacing, I shook my head. "Not happening."

"How can you be so sure? You're obviously still not over him," Natalie said, jumping down from the fence. "Go get another bag of these seeds, I'll help you plant them."

"You don't have to," I began saying, but she had gone to the tool shed to grab another watering can.

"I know you probably think it's weird, but I respect that you're determined to do this. If you weren't completely serious about this then you wouldn't have made it this far. I just hope that you won't run off and leave us once you've won," she said, looking up at me with a smile. "Now go and get me the seeds."

After that she helped me with the planting for about an hour and we chatted about how things were going between her and Pierre. Apparently Pierre was being a tad too shy for Natalie's liking, and she was getting rather frustrated that he wouldn't even kiss her properly.

"I mean, I'm not with him because of his looks or anything, but it'd be nice to know that he can at least act like man when he needs to," Natalie complained as she sprinkled another handful of seeds. "It's like he's scared to touch me or something. It's getting really irritating."

"Maybe you should dress up as a piece of fruit," I suggested jokingly. "Add a little whipped cream and he'll be putty in your hands."

"Pfft, where would I even find a costume like that?" she asked, obviously not taking it as a joke. This disturbed me a little. "But, I must admit, whipped cream sounds like a pretty good idea. I'll have to go buy some from Chen's place before I go over there tonight," Natalie said with a wicked grin. I shook my head with a faint smile.

"Tsch, young women nowadays," I said with mock disapproval.

Later that day, when Natalie had run off to Chen's store and I had headed over to Julia's place, I spotted Vaughn disembarking from the ferry that came to the island once every couple of days. He looked harassed and angry, and I smiled smugly as he had an argument with the ferry captain about something. Realising that I needed to hurry up, I went into the store and spoke to Mirabelle briefly about purchasing two cows and one sheep. I had hoped to be in and out of the store before Vaughn finally arrived; since I was just dropping off an order and I thought he would stop off at the hotel first; but just as I was turning away to leave he walked in and filled the doorway, blocking my escape route.

"Hello," he said, not moving from the door. He was deliberately trapping me.

I didn't say anything in return and turned to head up the stairs to Julia's room, even though I knew she was over at Taro's house. I didn't get very far though because Vaughn grabbed my wrist and asked Mirabelle, "Why was she here? Is she trying to buy animals?"

Mirabelle glanced at me, as if silently asking me what she was meant to say. I simply sighed and nodded, yanking my wrist out of Vaughn's grip angrily. "Yes, I'm here to buy animals," I replied moodily. "Why do you care?"

"Because I'm the livestock dealer and I want to make sure that only _competent_ farmers are buying my animals," Vaughn growled. "Mirabelle, don't sell this girl anything. She's not ready for it yet."

"Yes I am!" I exclaimed stubbornly. "If you don't believe me then come to my farm and check out the barn. I've got plenty of time now that the summer crops are already seeded."

He shot me a dirty look. "You're _still_ not ready."

"Vaughn, stop being so goddamn stubborn," Mirabelle said, putting her hands on her hips. "She says she's ready and I believe her. She's been working very hard over this past season and she's already prepped for summer."

"I don't trust her," Vaughn said simply.

I was getting desperate by this point because even if Mirabelle wanted to sell me the livestock I needed, Vaughn would still get the final say in whether I would be allowed to take them. Groaning in frustration, I ran a hand through my hair as I said, "Look, if you're _that_ worried about the animals, you can come and inspect them every week to make sure they're not being mistreated. If you think they're being poorly looked after then you can take them back. Okay?"

His eyes narrowed as I glared up at him. Even though I still found him ridiculously attractive, I wasn't quite as in awe of him as I was in the beginning. He irritated me more than anything else and I wanted to punch him more than I wanted to kiss him. Growing impatient, I sighed and headed towards the door to leave.

"Fine. Show me the barn," Vaughn said and we promptly left the shop together.

He followed a couple of paces behind me and I felt incredibly conscious of the fact that he was probably staring at me. It was already unbearably hot and my t-shirt stuck to my skin while a trickle of beaded sweat ran down my temple. Most of the town residents sat under canopies, out of the glare of the midday sun, and watched us with heavy lidded eyes as we progressed over to my farm. When we finally arrived at our destination, I allowed myself to glimpse over my shoulder and saw with utter delight that Vaughn was looking out at my fields in amazement.

"Here we are," I said when we reached the barn.

Gannon had done a beautiful job on it and I had neatly piled up some hay in the corner, ready for when the animals arrived. Vaughn's eyebrows rose upwards as he looked around the interior and frowned thoughtfully as he looked up at the ceiling to check that it was properly supported.

"So, what do you think?" I asked eagerly.

He sighed. "The barn is fine, as I knew it would be. It's Gannon's work, after all. I just don't want to give _you_ livestock."

"What the fuck is your problem?" I asked angrily in response.

Again the words were out of my mouth before I even realised. He scowled darkly and started towards me, causing me to squeak in panic. I had completely forgotten that he'd warned me not to use foul language in front of him and when I had spoken to Julia about it previously she had confirmed that Vaughn got really grumpy when people cursed at him. My fight or flight instincts kicked in and being the coward that I was, I made a dash for the door, but just as I reached it he caught up with me and slammed his hand against it to stop me from opening it. Facing the door, with him standing directly behind me, I felt a shiver run up my spine. I didn't dare look round.

"What did I tell you about using that kind of language with me?" I didn't reply and simply stood rooted to the spot. "Well? Are you going to apologise? I'm not going to let it slide this time." I wasn't entirely sure what to say in response, but before I could even form one in my mind I heard him speak a little closer to my ear. "If you're not going to apologise, I'm going to have to punish you." Punish me? Punish me how? Hearing from a hot guy that he was going to punish me sent all sorts of kinky images running through my gutter-mind and I put a hand against the barn door for support. Slowly, I turned my head to the side so I could peer up at him and found that our faces were as close together as they had been that day in Julia's bedroom.

"Well?" he said and I tried not to tremble when I saw him put his other hand against the door so that he was now barring my escape on either side.

"W-What are you doing?" I asked, my eyes widening in terror. Okay, so it wasn't just terror I was feeling. As weird as it sounds, I was actually getting pretty turned on by the thought of him 'punishing' me.

"You've got till three to say sorry," he said. "If you don't say it then I'll make sure you regret it."

I pressed my lips together, frowning at him stubbornly. There was no way I was going to say it.

"One," he began, grabbing me by the shoulders suddenly. "Two," he continued as he turned me around to face him, his grip on my shoulders remaining firm to stop me from escaping. "Three," he finished, staring down at me intently, expectantly.

I didn't apologise and instead just stared up at him defiantly. For one mad moment I thought his punishment would be to kiss me. Crazy, I know, but I wasn't thinking straight and the memory of him leaning in towards me during that morning I was sick still burned in my memory. My punishment, however, was not as pleasant as a kiss. Instead, with very little warning, he picked me up and slung me over his shoulder like a caveman. He did it so effortlessly, as though I weighed nothing, and I was winded for a couple of seconds as he marched out of the barn.

"Put me down!" I shrieked once I got my breath back.

I kicked and flailed my legs stupidly as I pounded my fists against his broad back, even though I knew it was in vain. This guy was all muscle – I could feel it through his clothes. When I tried to aim one of my kicks for his groin, he grunted angrily and smacked me hard on the ass. It stung and I shrieked in outrage, flailing more desperately as we walked further away from the barn. It was then that I realised where we were going: the dock at the back of my farm.

"Oh my god, you're not-" I began to say but stopped when I realised that yes, he was intending to throw me into the water. I started screaming at full volume. "Put me down! Put me down! I'm sorry I swore, okay? Please just put me down!"

"Too late," Vaughn said pitilessly, before unceremoniously dumping me into the water.

I hit the water painfully with a giant splash and I almost forgot to hold my breath as I plunged in. Thankfully the water by the dock was relatively deep and I didn't hurt myself, though it could have been potentially fatal if it had been any shallower than it was. Desperately needing air, I floundered my way back up and broke the surface with a gasp as he stood above watching. He wasn't laughing or smiling; he was simply looking down at me with that blank, unreadable stare of his.

"I hate you!" I screamed at him as I grabbed at my bandana that had come off and was floating in the water a short way away from me. "You're a jerk! Julia's right."

"And you need to wash your mouth out with soap," he said moodily, before walking off.

It was then that I realised that he hadn't agreed to sell me the livestock I wanted. Panicking, I swum to the ladder and climbed back onto the dock. "Wait! Vaughn, wait!" I hollered as I ran desperately after him.

When he heard me shouting for him, he paused and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw me. I didn't understand why he was staring at me like that until I looked down and saw my t-shirt. My wet, yellow t-shirt had gone see-through and my bright pink bra was on show for all the world to see. And Vaughn was seeing it – in fact, he was staring pretty hard. Realising that he was ogling me, I shrieked and pulled my cardigan around myself to cover up, but by then the damage was done. He'd smacked my ass, gotten me wet and seen my bra. And he hadn't even asked me out on a date yet.

"Nice," was all he said. And he was smirking. The git.

I shuddered with anger. "I didn't bring you here to give you a peep show. I came here to get your approval for me to buy animals. So can I?"

"Yeah, I'll sell them to you. But as you suggested earlier, I'll be coming round here every week to make sure that you're looking after them properly. If you don't then I'll take them back and you won't get a refund. Understood?"

"Whatever," I said sullenly, folding my arms self-consciously. I was actually pretty surprised he had agreed so readily. I was half expecting to have to fight him for it.

I watched his retreating back as I began my usual routine of over analysing every single detail of what just happened. In the end, I came to the conclusion that he was purposefully teasing me. If it was because of my original motivation to get into farming or just because he felt like it, I didn't know. What I _did_ know was that I would have to make sure I was wearing non-see-through clothing next time we were around a large body of water together.


	9. Books

**Author Note: **Thank you for the reviews guys! Seriously, it's lovely to read everyone's encouragements and it's what keeps me going with the story a lot of the time. Anyway, here's another chapter for you! It took me a while to write it since my Sabrina-muse was being a bit of a psychopath at the time. X_x Nyurgh... I'll stop talking now. Zzz. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter Nine<strong>

_Books_

I spoke to Sabrina alone for the first time one late afternoon in the middle of summer. I had already done most of my chores for that day and had retreated to my farmhouse to do some research. Once again, I sat in my kitchenette with my laptop and notebook out, scribbling down various notes about vegetable growth in preparation for the fall. After deciding on aubergines and bell peppers, I started trying to find information on how to improve the quality of my crops, but the internet fell short and instead cited a book that I should read. I hadn't been to a library since I was back at university and was curious to see if the range of books at the local library was adequate enough, so bringing my notebook and pen with me, I headed off to Sprout Island where it was located.

The building itself was rather plain looking. Built with red brick and long windows that stretched from the ceiling to the floor, it wasn't an architectural masterpiece or anything, but it did seem very library-ish. That is to say, there was a hushed calm about it that made it feel like it was sacred ground or something. Pushing open the large oak door, I was hit by a sudden draft of air and I wrinkled my nose against the musty smell. Just from that smell I could tell that the books would be old. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it made me wonder if anybody even went there anymore.

After introducing myself to the librarian and registering myself for a library card, I made my way through the aisles of bookshelves in search of the books on agriculture. I finally found them using the signs that had been posted up on the side of the shelves and quickly discovered the book I was looking for. I was actually pretty surprised they even had it there. It was a relatively new one and I had expected the books to be more outdated. Bewildered by this discovery but not deterred by it, I went in search of somewhere quiet to sit and found such a place tucked in the corner of the library, next to one of the ceiling to floor windows that overlooked the beach near Denny's shack. It was there that I saw Sabrina quietly sat with her nose in a book.

Not being particularly shy, I went straight over to the table and she jumped when she noticed me heading towards her, her cheeks colouring as she looked around her anxiously. I knew Sabrina was quite timid and I gave her a small smile when I saw her concern.

"Hello," I said as I took the seat opposite from her and put my notebook and pen down along with the agricultural book I'd pulled off the shelf. Her dark brown eyes lingered over the items before they snapped up to meet my blue ones.

"Hey Chelsea," she said, sounding almost relieved that I was just there to study. "Are you doing research for your farm?"

As if it wasn't glaringly obvious... I thought to myself as I nodded. "I was doing most of my research on the internet before, but they kept citing this book and I decided to come check it out. I was actually pretty surprised this old place even had it. I was expecting only really ancient books."

Sabrina smiled at this and blushed. "Actually, I asked my dad to pay to restock the library with new agricultural books when I found out that you were the new farmer. I thought they might be useful to you when you got here."

I was struck dumb for a few seconds. I couldn't quite believe that her dad had kitted out the library with new agricultural books just because she asked him to; and I couldn't believe that she'd done it just for me. Unsure of how to react to this, my mouth opened and closed a couple of times before Sabrina added, "Don't worry about it! It didn't cost very much. You've probably already heard about my father anyway." I felt guilty about the way I reacted when I saw how embarrassed she got.

"Sorry, it's just... that's a pretty big thing to do for someone you don't really know," I said as I opened the book and checked the print date. She hadn't been lying – the book was brand spanking new.

"Well, it's just, I wanted to do something nice for you," Sabrina said, squirming in her seat a little.

I eyed Sabrina suspiciously for a moment. Why would she want to do something nice for me? In spite of having lived on the islands for over a season already, I still wasn't accustomed to the fact that many of the people I had met did things out of genuine kindness. Ever paranoid and suspicious of everyone, I always found myself questioning their motives. It's a bad personality trait, I know, but it's hard to break a habit like that. As a list of possibilities ran through my mind about Sabrina's reasons for being so generous, it dawned on me that she was probably exactly like Julia; just eager to make a new friend. Okay, sure, kitting out a library with new books was a bit of an overreaction to the news that I was coming, and maybe I would have considered it a little creepy if Sabrina wasn't so adorable, but it was the thought that counted. Besides, since her cousin Will was so damned creepy, I just figured it ran in the family. A grin spread itself over my face and she blushed.

"Thanks Sabrina," I said. "It was a lovely thing to do. I just hope it didn't cost too much. Now I feel guilty for not coming earlier than this."

"O-oh, don't worry about it!" Sabrina exclaimed, her glasses slipping down her nose momentarily before she pushed them up again. "I know how it is with the internet and everything. I spend a lot of time at home on the computer when I'm bored. It's just that I can't spend very long on it because of my eyes. My optician told me that if I spend too much time staring at the computer screen then my eyes will just keep getting worse, and my dad's already been threatening to send me off to get laser eye surgery done. That's why I tend to read more books nowadays."

"You don't want to get laser eye surgery?" I asked curiously. I mean, it's not like the girl couldn't afford it.

"It's scary," Sabrina said in a hushed tone. "Final Destination 5 traumatised me."

I burst out laughing, remembering that scene in the film. Of course, it'd scare most people; but I had never pegged Sabrina to be a watcher of horror films. "Yeah, that scene was pretty terrifying. But it's just a movie you know, and I'm sure your dad would be there to make sure nothing stupid like that happened." I was being completely truthful when I said this. I had met Regis once, just before the Harvest Goddess Festival, and the man actually said to me, 'Just don't get in my Sabrina's way'. Overprotective much?

Sabrina pushed her glasses back up her nose irritably. "Yeah, I know he would be. But he's more likely to _cause_ the accidents than prevent them."

"Still, at least you know he cares," I said. "A lot of people here think you're very lucky to have Regis as your father."

"Just because of his money; they don't know what it's like to live with him," Sabrina said with a sigh. "Sorry, I'm complaining too much, aren't I?"

"No, it's fine. I complain a lot too," I said cheerily.

Sabrina smiled. "I don't mind if you want to complain about something; it's nice to have someone to talk to. Most of the girls here tend to avoid me because they're scared of my dad or something."

"Why are they scared of him?" I asked. Natalie and Julia had never mentioned anything about being scared of Regis – except for the fact that Natalie's mom thought he was a vampire.

"It's just that my father has a tendency to pick and choose who I can and can't be... friends with. I remember Lanna tried to befriend me when she first arrived, but my dad told her to keep away from me. He told me that she only wanted to befriend me because of my status as an heiress," Sabrina said uncomfortably. I was tempted to suggest that maybe her dad was correct in this assumption, but held my tongue.

"He wouldn't object to _me_ befriending you, would he?" I asked unsurely.

"N-No!" Sabrina exclaimed excitedly, her glasses slipping down her nose again. "He said he's impressed with you actually, since you're so hard working! That's why he agreed to buy all those books!"

"A-Ah, good," I said, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

Reminded of the reason I was there, I flipped open the book to the contents page while I opened up my notebook and took my pen in hand. The two of us sat in silence for about fifteen minutes, with her reading and me taking notes, before she turned to me with a slightly anxious expression.

"So I've seen Vaughn going over to your farm every time he comes to the islands," she commented, looking up over her book at me.

"Yeah," was all I said in response. I thought it a little odd for her to be bringing up Vaughn and it showed in my expression.

"Is something going on between you two then?" she asked with a faint smile.

Ah, so she wants to talk boys, I thought. I put my pen down and laced my fingers together. "No, definitely not," I told her. I took a deep breath before continuing. "I just broke up with my childhood sweetheart like... two seasons ago so I'm not really ready to be getting involved with anyone right now - much to Julia's chagrin. She's been trying to set me up with every single guy left on this island, and I'm starting to get a little irritated by it."

"Oh I see," Sabrina said. She looked pleased with our topic and closed her book, which I took to mean that she wanted to keep chatting about it. "And what if you were ready to date again, would you consider Vaughn? I mean, he is terribly handsome, isn't he?"

"Looks aren't everything," I said darkly.

"You don't like him as a person?" Sabrina asked. She actually sounded genuinely surprised.

I grimaced. "Let's just say that the pair of us don't really get along very well. He irritates me and I irritate him. The only reason he comes to my farm is to inspect my livestock to make sure I'm not mistreating them. He cares more about animals than he does about people."

"He's not _that_ bad, surely," Sabrina said. "He's always been very kind to me when I've had to speak to him."

"Yeah, maybe it's just me," I replied with a shrug. "Either way, I don't like him like that. If I had to choose a guy I'd be interested in, if I were to consider dating again, it would probably be someone like Denny. He's always very friendly and considerate. He's good looking too, which is always a plus."

"Yes," Sabrina said dreamily. "Denny's very charming, isn't he? But I thought he was dating Lanna."

"I get the impression that Lanna has been forcing herself on him more than anything. Whenever I see the two of them together, Lanna's always dragging him off somewhere," I said.

Sabrina giggled. "Lanna was like that with my cousin when she first arrived, but Will doesn't really like blondes. He prefers exotic girls like Lily."

"I think Denny is just going along with Lanna because he fancies her from that pop video," I said, my inner-bitchiness starting to come through. "I don't understand how guys can be so blinded by a girl's looks."

"It's the same for girls too," Sabrina replied as she played with the corner of the book. "That's why there's that whole 'love at first sight' phenomena that's always referenced in romance novels."

"I don't think 'love at first sight' is possible," I replied cynically. "Lust or infatuation at first sight, yes, but not love. Love is something that develops over time."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," Sabrina commented, tilting her head to the side. "How long were you with your boyfriend before the two of you broke up?"

"Six years," I replied solemnly.

Sabrina's expression turned melancholy and she opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again, thinking better of it. She slid her hands over the cover of her book before saying, "I'm sorry if I brought back painful memories or anything. I know what it's like to lose the love of your life. I mean, I'm assuming he was... the love of your life I mean."

"He probably was," I said, trying my best not to sound too bitter about it. "I'm still not quite over it, but I'm healing. I just don't think I'll be able to fall in love quite so easily anymore." Then something occurred to me. "So what was your ex-boyfriend like?"

"Huh?" she asked, looking startled by my question.

"You just said that you know what it's like to lose the love of your life," I reminded her.

She blinked at me a few times before looking away and blushing. "He wasn't my boyfriend. But I did love him. A lot. My father didn't approve though and I had to stop seeing him."

"How long ago was this?" I pressed.

"A while ago," she said mysteriously. She looked down at her book and ran her pale hands over it again, her slender fingers tracing the lettering of the title. "This is nice. I don't get to talk about boys very often."

When I heard this I felt a surge of pity towards her. It was clear that she had difficulties making friends because of her father's influence in her life and I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her to grow up and see girls like Natalie and Julia chatting merrily about boys while she was forced to just look on from afar. I couldn't truly empathise with her since I'd never had any problems befriending people before, but I could tell just from looking at her that she was desperately lonely.

"Well, I can come to the library every now and then to chat with you, if you like," I suggested.

Her face lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. You're pretty cool to talk to. I can even bring Julia and Natalie along with me if you want," I said with a nod.

Sabrina's face fell. "Julia and Natalie don't really like me all that much."

I already knew that Natalie thought that Sabrina was a bit of a wimp, but I hadn't heard anything from Julia. I rubbed the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger before saying, "I don't think that's true. It's probably just that you haven't had much of a chance to talk to each other before. I'm sure they'll think differently once they get to know you."

"No, I don't think they'll ever like me," Sabrina said, shaking her head. "I've never been able to get along with Natalie and Julia dislikes me because..." She trailed off and looked away. I was curious to know what Julia could possibly dislike her for, but the look of distress on her face silenced me.

"Oh, well, I can come and see you at least," I said, trying to get the conversation back on track. "Besides, I'll have to put these books your father bought to good use!"

"Y-yes!" Sabrina said, smiling gratefully at me.

I left the library shortly afterwards, needing to get home so I could cook dinner and get to bed early. After saying our goodbyes, I headed through the library towards the exit, mulling over everything that Sabrina had said. She seemed like such a nice girl that I couldn't understand why Julia and Natalie would dislike her. Yes, she was quite meek and shy, but those weren't major faults that would make the two of them dislike her to the point where they would refuse to talk to her. I was so deep in contemplation that I wasn't concentrating on looking where I was going and I walked right into someone as I was going through the door. Someone with a very hard chest.

"Watch it," Vaughn barked as we stumbled back from each other. The way he said this pissed me off and the apology that I had been about to give him was stifled.

"Owch," I winced, rubbing my forehead. "What's wrong with your chest? Is your body made out of rock or something?"

"No, you just walked into me too hard," Vaughn said, rubbing his chest where I had smacked into him. "Watch where you're going next time."

"You watch it," I snapped back grumpily. "It's your fault just as much as it's mine."

"You were the one who wasn't looking where she was going. How is it my fault?" he snapped back.

"Well you were obviously not paying attention either, otherwise you would have seen me coming and stopped," I retorted. I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you doing here anyway? You don't seem like someone who reads very much."

Vaughn looked startled for a moment before his scowl returned. "Mind your own business," he snarled, before stalking off into the library and left me holding the door staring after him.


	10. Unanswered Questions

**Note from the Author:** Thanks for the reviews guys! I apologise if this chapter seems kind of boring, but I had to put it in because it was kind of necessary for setting the scene for the new few chapters. I'm actually writing like... three chapters ahead of what I publish just in case I have to change some of the details around etc. But yeah, again, thanks for the reviews. I appreciate that it takes time to write them sometimes and I'm really grateful. It's my motivation to keep writing XD.

If anyone has any suggestions for a good story description, ('cus the one I have atm kinda sucks and I'm lame at summarising things) then I'd be grateful. "

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

_Unanswered Questions_

I met with Sabrina in the library a couple of times a week after that. While I couldn't hang around with her as much as I wanted to, she was always so delighted to see me and I enjoyed the simple banter between us. Through our conversations, I saw that Sabrina was a very bright and well-educated, often speaking her mind quite openly and offering her opinions quite readily. Yet in spite of her eagerness to befriend me, I always felt that there was something holding her back. It was as if she was hiding something from me. I figured that everyone has their own secrets and never pressed her to find out what it was.

There was one thing that played on my mind however: why did Sabrina think that Natalie and Julia disliked her? It bothered me. I wanted to ask Sabrina about it but I didn't want to ruin my tentative friendship with her by being too nosey and so I decided to direct my query to Julia and Natalie. Since I had been so busy with caring for my new livestock and tending my crops, I didn't have much of an opportunity to see them together until they invited me to go out swimming with them one day. I hadn't particularly wanted to go, since I had things to do around the farm, but they insisted I take a break and dragged me away. It had been a stifling hot summer day and I was already covered in sweat by the time we arrived at the beach over on Sprout Island.

"This is a horrible idea," Natalie said with scowl as Julia dashed across the piping hot sand and quickly put her towel down so she could stand on it. "It's ridiculously obvious why you chose this particular beach. You know that, right?"

"Psht, what's wrong with being obvious?" Julia asked with a giggle. "Besides, it's more fun if people can see us running around in our swim suits."

"Such an exhibitionist," I muttered under my breath, glancing at Natalie with a knowing smirk.

"Now, strip Chelsea!" Julia ordered me once I had set down my towel and had pulled my notebook out.

"It's too early and the sun is too high right now, I'll fry if I do," I grumbled as her shadow loomed over me. She had both hands on her hips and I knew she meant business.

"Not if you use sunscreen," she said before literally pouncing on me. She pretty much ripped my clothes off and she pulled a face when she saw what was underneath. "That's not sexy," she said with a peeved expression when she saw that I was wearing a bright red one-piece.

"I don't know about that," Natalie said, appraising me. "She looks like an extra from Baywatch with that thing on. All she needs to do now is dye her hair bleach blonde and she'll be a dead-ringer for Pamela Anderson."

I threw my discarded t-shirt at her. "Ew, don't say that!"

"You _chose_ to wear that," Natalie replied with a grin. "And anyway, that suits you far better than whatever Julia wanted you to wear. She probably wanted you to be naked."

"I guess that will have to do," Julia replied disappointedly. "I just hope Denny isn't put off by one-pieces."

I frowned. "I'm not here to impress Denny. I'm here to spend time with you two. I've already told you, I'm not really interested in getting involved with guys right now."

"Especially not a guy like Denny," Natalie sneered, glancing over at his shack.

"Why do you have such a downer on him?" Julia asked Natalie as she started tugging her own clothes off. I raised an eyebrow questioningly when I caught sight of the bikini that the curvaceous blonde was wearing. It was all black and would have looked relatively modest on a girl with a smaller figure, but on Julia it looked slightly obscene.

"Jeez Julia, you're gonna have someone's eye out with those," I joked as Julia pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

"I can't help that I'm big breasted," Julia replied. "Don't be jealous just because I'm wearing a bikini and you're not. And why are you still dressed Nat?"

Natalie shrugged and ignored her, rolling over onto her front and pulling her mp3 player out of her bag. I reached over and grabbed the suntan lotion bottle that was poking out of Julia's bag as Julia frowned and turned to look out to sea. I poured some of the milky liquid into my hands before rubbing it into my skin while Julia scanned the horizon for signs of Denny. He obviously hadn't come back yet, since his boat wasn't at the dock.

"Where is he?" Julia asked huffily before sitting down on her towel and taking the lotion bottle from me.

"Can we not talk about boys right now? I'm getting a bit fed up of hearing 'Denny, Denny, Denny'," I said moodily. "It's all you ruddy well talk about lately. I've already told you, I'm not interested in dating. Not yet anyway. And so what if he goes steady with Lanna? It's not like he's the only guy left on this island. So please, give me a break and stop with the guy talk."

"Let's talk about girls then," Natalie said, rolling over again and grinning. She always loved getting the opportunity to bitch about the other girls on the island, especially a certain semi-retired pop-singer.

"I don't want to talk about Lanna either," I replied frustratedly as I smeared some of the lotion onto my cheekbones. "I actually want to ask you guys about Sabrina."

"What about her?" Natalie asked.

"Do you guys truly dislike her?" I asked bluntly. I didn't see the point in beating around the bush.

"It's not that I dislike her," Julia began, glancing over at me warily. "It's just complicated. She's too much of a daddy's girl and her father freaks me out a little bit. She's obviously unhappy there, but she doesn't do anything about it. I mean, Sabrina's twenty now. She could easily move out of her dad's mansion and do something else with her life, but she's not. She's just staying there and allowing her dad to control her."

"So you're scared of Regis?" I asked.

Natalie scoffed. "No. He's just a dick when it comes to anything to do with Sabrina." I had a feeling Natalie was about to say something further, but Julia quickly interjected and shot Natalie a warning look. "We've never had much of an opportunity to speak to Sabrina because she's always at home and rarely goes out."

"That's not true, she's always in the library," I said. "I met her in there a couple of weeks ago and had a bit of a chat with her."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She's really nice," I said with a nod and a smile. "We should all go in and say hi together."

"No thanks," Natalie said. "You and Julia can go, but I still stand by my opinion of her. Until she breaks free from her daddy-monster's clutches, I don't want to associate with her. Not after what she did."

"What?" I asked. "What did she do?"

"Oh! Denny! Hi!" Julia exclaimed loudly, once again cutting Natalie off as she waved energetically at the fisherman.

I was a little annoyed that she had been persistently cutting Natalie off, but was distracted when I caught sight of the Denny. He had just returned to dock and was topless as he tied his boat up, his dark skin glistening with sweat in the midday sun. Hearing Julia call him, he straightened and shielded his eyes with one hand so he could see where we were. When he spotted us, he returned the wave. I think I must have literally started drooling because Natalie shot me a look of disgust.

"There is definitely something radioactive in the water here," I murmured to them in a low voice as Denny finished tying up his boat and headed towards us. "I've never seen so many hunks congregated in one place before. It's abnormal."

"I know right?" Julia chirped, bouncing up and down with excitement.

When Denny reached us, his eyes examined each of us in turn before he turned back to me with a smile. There was something almost predatory in the way he smiled down at me and I felt my heart thud loudly in response. "Hi Denny," I said with forced enthusiasm.

"Heya," he said. "Chilling out today, huh?"

"Yeah, I managed to get all my morning chores done pretty quickly and the girls said I needed to take some time to relax for once," I replied nervously. "How about you? Usually you're back from fishing earlier than this, aren't you?"

"I stayed out a bit longer today. I needed a bit of peace and quiet," Denny said, glancing over in the direction of Lanna's house pointedly. At this, Julia giggled and Natalie let out an unladylike snort of amusement.

"Come on Julia, let's go swim," Natalie suddenly said, rising to her feet and discarding her clothes swiftly as she crossed the beach. It was like she couldn't get away from us fast enough.

"H-Hey, let me come with you," I stammered, getting up to follow her, but Julia shook her head and put a hand on my shoulder firmly. She pushed me back down - she wasn't letting me go anywhere.

"No, you stay and chat with Denny," she said, giving him a sly smile before dashing after Natalie who had run into the water and submerged herself.

I sulkily watched them frolic in the water together, resenting them for leaving me alone with the fisherman. I'm not exactly a shy person, but when Denny took a seat next to me with a faint smile playing on his lips, I have to admit that my heart was beating like an 808 drum. He had such a wonderfully carefree smile that I found myself staring quite openly at him until he glanced in my direction and caught me.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked, a hand reaching up to brush around his mouth self-consciously.

I giggled nervously. "No. It's nothing. I was just... thinking..." I trailed off, realising how weird I sounded. I cleared my throat before asking, "So, how long have you been a fisherman?"

"All my life," Denny replied readily. "My father was a fisherman, and my grandfather before him. That boat, believe it or not, has actually been in my family for four generations now. That's why it looks like such a heap of junk."

I cast a glance over to the dock where Denny's boat was docked. "It doesn't look that bad."

"There's no need to flatter me, I know what it looks like," he replied.

"No, seriously, it doesn't look as beat up as you think. It's pretty cool that it's been in your family for so long. It's like an heirloom, isn't it?"

He nodded, his expression remaining serious. "In a way, yes. But I was pretty much raised on it, so I see it more like a home than a possession."

"Raised on it?" I blurted out. I cringed when I realised how rude I'd sounded but Denny just laughed.

"Yeah," he said jovially. "My father was a bit of a drifter and never liked to settle down in one place, so we spent most of our time on that boat. We went everywhere in that thing, so I saw a lot as I was growing up."

"What about your mother?" I asked.

"I never knew her."

"Oh."

I fell silent as I tried to think of something to say without sounding like I was being too nosey, but Denny emitted a sigh before leaning back on his hands and asking, "What about your family? I'm guessing you're probably from quite a stable home, right?"

"I guess. Both parents and my younger sister live back home on the mainland and we've never moved from the house I grew up in," I said.

I almost felt guilty for having such a secure background in comparison to someone like Denny. I actually felt quite sorry for him. I couldn't imagine would it had been like growing up on a cramped boat without his mother and I realised that I took it for granted that my family stayed together. I snuck a glimpse at the fisherman once more and this time I caught _him_ staring at _me._

"What?" I asked. "Do _I_ have something on my face?"

"No. Just wondering what you're thinking. You have a really expressive face you know, I can sort of tell how you're feeling just by looking at you," Denny said with traces of a smile. "If you want to know something, just ask me. There's no need to be embarrassed."

"N-No, don't worry," I said shyly, tugging a lock of my hair nervously.

"If you want, you can come out on the boat with me," Denny offered. "If you're curious about what it's like. We can go fishing together or something. You'll be able to catch a greater variety of fish out on the open water and it's a great way to relax."

I don't know what it was, but Denny's offer didn't appeal to me. Although I liked him and thought he was quite easy to talk to, there was something about him that put me on edge. He was almost _too_ nice. I don't know whether to call it instinct or intuition, but it nagged at my mind and told me not to trust him. There was something in the way he looked at me, and other women in fact, that wasn't completely wholesome, and I knew that this was probably part of the reason Natalie didn't like him. I had learned quite early on that Natalie had sharp instincts when it came to judging people and her rather blatantly dislike of him only served to aggravate my own suspicions that he was not all he seemed.

"That would be nice, but I haven't got a fishing rod yet, so I'll have to take a rain check," I replied apologetically, trying my best to reject the offer without being too rude about it.

"You can just borrow one of mine if you want," he said with a shrug.

His eagerness troubled me and I had to force myself to keep my smile in place. "Well then, yeah, sure. But some other time, eh? I don't really want to ditch my friends yet," I said sheepishly.

He left shortly after this and headed back to his shack to get some sleep, which prompted my friends to return to the beach. Natalie immediately started bitching about getting sunburn while Julia asked me what I'd spoken to Denny about. I recounted our conversation and seeming satisfied with that, Julia dropped the subject and started talking about her plans for Natalie and Elliot's joint birthday party. As Julia went off on a rant about all the things she had to do in preparation for it, I noticed that Natalie had zoned out of what her friend was saying and had fixed her attention solely on Denny's hut.

I had come to the beach with the intention of finding out what they truly thought of Sabrina, but instead of leaving with answers that satisfied my curiosity I was left with more unanswered questions. Why did Julia evade my questions and cut Natalie off? Was it only because of how Regis coddled Sabrina or was it for another reason? Why were they hiding it from me? And why did Natalie hate Denny so much?


	11. Remedy

**Note from the Author:** Hi guys! Here's another update! Thanks for all the reviews so far, I really appreciate it. I would have posted this up a bit earlier, but I was a bit too preoccupied with the new Wii I just bought. It's so shiny and new. :3 I also ordered Harvest Moon Animal Parade, which I'm super excited about getting! I'm expecting it later this week, so my updates may get a little slower at that point. Anyway, enough blabbing! On with the story!

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><p><strong>Chapter Eleven<strong>

_Remedy_

My new life on the farm had been relatively uncomplicated by that point. I woke up every morning, tended to my livestock, weeded around my growing vegetables and various other chores. I got so comfortable with the whole daily routine that the smell in the barn was no longer so revolting to me and my body no longer ached from the work out I was giving it. Everything seemed so peaceful. But then, on Summer 23 I received a call from Ellie when I was out watering my crops. I had been so preoccupied with work and going to the various different festivals with Taro that I kept forgetting to ring her up and find out how she was doing. I knew that she had probably finished her exams already and I was eager to see how they'd gone, so when I received her call I answered it immediately. "Hey hey hey! How'd your exams go?" I asked jovially.

There was no immediate response on the other end and I knew that something was wrong. "Ellie? Ellie... Are you there?"

Eventually, she found her voice. "Chelsea," she croaked out. Her voice was husky from crying.

I froze. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Trent dumped me and kicked me out of his apartment," she said shakily.

I stood in stunned silence for a minute before I said, "You can come here. You can stay on the sofa-bed at my place."

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><p>She arrived at Verdure the next day with a suitcase of her things, looking bedraggled and depressed. Her eyes were rimmed red and her nose was pink from having blown it too much. Her expression was glazed over and she looked as if someone had sucked the soul right out of her. I had never seen her in such a state. Ignoring the curious glances from the other people around town, I hurried her over to my farm, expecting her to break down into tears at any moment, but when we reached the bridge to it she stopped and gasped in surprise. Her brown eyes swept over my neatly tended fields and the small pasture where my livestock were grazing.<p>

"It's beautiful Chelsea," she whispered, momentarily forgetting her break up as she marvelled at my humble but well kept farm. "You really did it. You actually became a farmer."

"Thanks to you," I replied quietly before urging her onwards.

Afterwards I led her inside and she collapsed on the sofa in front of the television. While I put her suitcase in the corner of the living room, she stared blankly at the wall as if in a daze until I gently said, "Ellie?"

My voice seemed to wake her from the trance and she started crying again, curling up into a foetal ball of anguish. Unsure of what else to do for her, I dragged the bedcovers off my bed and wrapped her up in them, stroking her hair as she cried into the pillow that I had placed on my lap. I desperately wanted to know what had happened between her and Trent. I knew that Ellie would never cheat on Trent and Trent would never cheat on her in return – so what happened? Only something serious would have caused Trent to kick Ellie out completely. Eventually, when Ellie stopped crying, she started telling me what happened.

"He found out about the prescription pills," she said. Ah yes, I thought. That would do it. She wiped her nose with a tissue before sombrely continuing. "He was gone for a weekend seminar on nutrition and I was depressed that we barely saw each other. I popped one of mom's Valiums and zonked out on the sofa since I was expecting him to come home for another day or so. But he came home early. And he found me asleep, with the bottle open on the coffee table. He got really panicked and thought I'd overdosed or something and when I woke up he freaked out at me. He told me that I shouldn't be taking it, that I'd get dependent on it like my mother was, and asked me where I got the prescription from. I couldn't lie to him so I told him the truth. About everything. Then he kicked me out."

"Why did you tell him?" I asked. Even though I know lying is wrong, white lies were sometimes necessary to prevent such situations from happening.

"I just can't lie to him. I could keep secrets from him, sure, but outright lying to him is impossible. It's like I literally can't do it," she groaned. "You'll understand when you find someone you really love."

"I did find someone I really love, but he turned out to not love me very much," I replied dully.

Ellie chuckled bitterly. "You never truly loved Mark. You just convinced yourself you did."

I felt a little peeved at her for saying this, but I figured she was just angry at everything because of what had happened and I tried not to hold it against her. "Well anyway, I'm sure you just need to give Trent some time to calm down. It's pretty obvious that you two can't live without one another, so he probably just needs a grace period to cool off."

"But I've never seen him so angry," she replied, her voice sounding distant as she remembered. "He was so furious with me that I was actually kind of scared he'd hit me or something. Of course, he didn't, because Trent wouldn't do that, but he was so mad. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken the pills that day. I just... I'm a fail, Chelsea. An epic fail."

"Shush shush," I said gently, stroking her hair again and she broke down into tears again. "Everyone makes mistakes. Trent will forgive you. Like any normal intelligent man, he'll introspect and wonder why you were even taking them to begin with. And you were obviously taking them because you were depressed and missed him. Everyone who knows you would see that as well."

I continued to console her for the rest of the afternoon and she fell asleep in my lap after a while. As she slept and I quietly watched the television, I found myself wondering if relationships were really worth all the potential heartbreak and complications that usually came with them. I had already gone through the same feelings that Ellie was and so I understood better than anyone the ache she probably felt in her chest when she thought about him. After finding out that the couple I'd always thought were perfect together had split up, I have to admit that I lost the last of my faith in relationships. Having already been disillusioned with them when Mark and I broke up, my mind began to apathetically think of them as being pointless and far too transient to be important.

Ellie woke up later when there was a knock on the door of my farmhouse. It had grown dark by then and I wasn't too surprised to see that my visitors were Julia and Natalie. They both looked rather worried since they hadn't seen me for most of the day and had heard from Elliot that he'd seen me guiding another girl to my farm. They asked me if something was wrong and I shook my head. "My friend Ellie is over. She just broke up with her boyfriend and needed a place to stay."

Natalie immediately looked relieved, but Julia still looked concerned. "Is she okay?" the blonde asked, peering over my shoulder at Ellie who sat on the couch expressionlessly staring at the television screen.

"Well, she's obviously not," Natalie said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I brought a couple of bottles of wine and Julia nabbed a bottle of her mom's Southern Comfort, so let us in already."

"What's the special occasion?" I asked sceptically as they stepped inside and Ellie looked up at us.

"Natalie broke up with Pierre," Julia said grimly.

Natalie rolled her eyes angrily and bustled about in the kitchen.

"She's... er... not as torn up about it as I had thought she'd be," I said slightly suspiciously.

"Why would I be? He picked a fucking soufflé over me for fuck sakes," Natalie seethed, pulling out four wine glasses and pouring out large helpings for us.

"Chelsea, what's going on?" Ellie asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she watched Natalie pour the drinks out while Julia put the bottle of Southern Comfort to one side.

"Ellie, this is Julia and Natalie. Natalie just broke up with her boyfriend too and apparently we're celebrating about it," I said warily. "Julia, Nat, this is Ellie. She's studying to be a nurse and just broke up with her doctor boyfriend because he overreacted."

Natalie raised her wineglass in mock salute to Ellie. "Welcome to the break-up club," she said magnanimously before draining the entire glass in one go. I bawked at her and Julia tried not to laugh.

Ellie blinked up at us for a moment before I saw the faint traces of a smile appear on her face. I knew immediately that she liked her first impression of my new friends and she scrambled to her feet to claim her glass of wine as Julia and Natalie took a seat at my dining table. I stood hovering in between, wondering if maybe I should remain sober, since I had the feeling that the other three weren't intending to, but after a moment's deliberation, I decided to throw caution to the wind and grabbed my wine glass.

"So, here's the story," Natalie began as she put her wine glass down on the table. "I went round to Pierre's earlier today to see how he was doing and give him some of the mushrooms I'd picked for him on Mushroom Island this morning." She then jumped a little and turned to me as she added, "Oh that reminds me, I saw Alisa hanging around at Shea's hut again today. I think Jane may have met her Tarzan finally."

"What?" Julia exclaimed.

I wasn't quite as surprised. Alisa had already told me about her little meetings with Shea, the resident wild boy that lived alone on Mushroom Island, and had asked me for advice on what to do about it. She asked me if she should stop seeing him, since she was starting to like him, and I encouraged her to do the opposite.

"Back to the original story, Nat," I reminded my friend. "We'll talk about Tarzan and Jane later."

"Okay, yes, so, I went round there to give him the mushrooms and I knocked on the door and waited patiently for him to open it. A couple of minutes went by but he didn't answer, so I knocked again. I waited another couple of minutes, and still, no answer. Eventually, I got fed up of waiting and went to look through the window of the kitchen to see if he'd passed out or something, since it _has_ actually happened once or twice before. But when I looked in I found him crouched in front of the oven, staring at it. He was watching his soufflé to make sure it didn't deflate. Angry, but still wanting to see him, I broke in." She paused for dramatic effect before continuing. "I broke in through his bedroom window, since I know it's quite loose. He heard me breaking in and ran to see what had happened. When he saw it was only me, he ran back to the kitchen. And then he saw that his soufflé had deflated. Guess what he did?"

"I don't really know this person, but I guess he's probably a chef or something," Ellie said unsurely, obviously a little intimidated by Natalie's. "But er... did he get mad at you for distracting him from the soufflé?"

"Correct," Natalie said before taking a long gulp of her wine. "He got mad at me for distracting him from his fucking soufflé for twenty seconds. And guess how mad I got?"

"You didn't punch him did you?" I asked her, slightly aghast at the idea of her punching the little man. Goddess knows I'd seen her do it to Elliot a couple of times when she was mad at him.

"No. I set his kitchen on fire."

Ellie and I gaped at Natalie for a moment before Julia broke out into a fit of giggles and I took a long swig of my wine. I tried to imagine how Pierre would have reacted to this, but I just couldn't. And that's when Natalie pulled her iPhone out. She had taken a video of it.

The video showed Pierre running around flailing a wet towel at the flames in a poor attempt to put them out. His curly blonde hair was a mess and his clothes were covered in soot whilst he shrieked like a girl. Literally. We could vaguely hear Natalie sniggering with amusement from behind the camera.

We all burst out laughing.

"I think my sides are literally splitting," Ellie wheezed over the table as our laughter began to dissipate after a couple of minutes. "What's with his outfit? He looks like a Willy Wonka impersonator!"

"I hope you called the fire department after that!" Julia wheezed.

Natalie nodded. "I made my escape first before I rang them."

"I'm still a little surprised though Nat, I thought you really liked him," I asked brokenly through sporadic giggles.

Natalie's expression fell and she fiddled with her phone sadly. "I do, but I don't like the fact that I played second fiddle to French cuisine. I'm a living, breathing person. Surely he should cherish me more than food." She played with her fringe shyly for a minute before turning to Ellie and asking, "So what's your story?"

Ellie had been pleasantly distracted from her own plight by Natalie's retelling of the catastrophe at Pierre's house, but faced with Natalie's question she began to tear up at the memory of it. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders as Natalie shifted uncomfortably, feeling guilty that she'd stepped on a landmine. However, after a moment of struggling with herself, Ellie took a deep breath. "My boyfriend found out I was taking Valium when he was out of town. He doesn't like me taking drugs unnecessarily."

"Is that it?" Natalie asked, clearly unimpressed. "He sounds a bit like a jerk to me."

Ellie looked a little cross at her reaction. "Well, he's a doctor you see. And I didn't have a prescription for it. My parents own a pharmaceutical company and so I was able to get them without one," she added defensively.

"Even if you didn't have a prescription, it still doesn't make your boyfriend sound any less like a jerk. His girlfriend got lonely because of him and so took anti-depressants. And he gets mad at her?" Natalie said simply. "You're better off without him if he thinks like that."

Natalie had said what I had spent all afternoon trying to get Ellie to see and my friend blinked as if someone had slapped some sense into her. And then she began to slowly smile, as if she had just realised that Natalie was right.

"I _am_ better off, aren't I?" she said nervously. "I've been blaming only myself this whole time."

For the rest of the night we continued our progress through the bottles of wine and when they were finished we started on the Southern Comfort. We spent about three hours bitching quite viciously about the men in our lives. Natalie bitched about Pierre and his obsession with food, Julia bitched about Elliot's lack of adventurousness in the bedroom, Ellie bitched about Trent and I bitched about Mark. Then, the conversation turned to Vaughn.

"He's a jerk," I slurred angrily. "He threw me into the water just because I swore at him."

Julia raised an eyebrow. "When was this? You didn't tell me about this."

"Yeah, well, it happened a few weeks ago," I said with an uncaring shrug. "I didn't really feel like talking much about it."

Julia sighed and rubbed her temple. "I told you not to cuss at him, didn't I?"

"But he was just so rude! I was trying to get him to agree to let me buy his livestock and he said he didn't want to sell them to me just because he didn't trust me," I said bitterly before taking a swig of my drink.

"Well you must have done something to change his mind, since he obviously sold them to you," Julia replied.

"He only agreed after my t-shirt got wet. It went see-through," I said, cringing as Julia stared at me in shock and Natalie started laughing.

"So you're saying he agreed to sell you animals because he saw your bra?" Julia asked incredulously.

"He's a man, what do you expect?" Natalie butted in.

"That can't be the only reason, Vaughn's not like that," Julia replied sternly. "Something else must have happened."

"I swear to the Harvest Goddess, that's what happened," I said, raising my glass.

"Well, if that's all you have to do, you should just flirt with him and then he'll give you all the livestock you need," Natalie suggested.

"How am I meant to flirt with a man like that?" I asked dubiously.

"Go up to him and ask to see his cock?" Natalie asked with a smirk.

Everyone fell silent and stared at her in disbelief.

"Hello? Double entendre? Ever heard of it?" Natalie asked in disbelief, "Bunch of dirty minded cows."

Julia squirmed in revulsion as Ellie and I started giggling. "Oh god, mental images. Be gone!" the blonde cried before dropping her head to the table with a heavy thud. "I don't want these mental images of my cousin!"

"Hypocrite! And you were complaining to me about my brother's crappiness in the sack just a moment ago! At least I was only joking!" Natalie complained.

"Let's change the subject!" Julia said with a nervous giggle. "We need to figure out who you're going to go with to the Fireworks Festival, Chelsea."

"No thanks," I said sullenly. "I don't really want to go. Not if I _need_ to have a date."

"Aww, come on," Natalie exclaimed. "You can't _not_ go."

"We should go together as one big group. We don't _have_ to stick to the traditions of bringing a date. And I know plenty of families who go together," Julia said, looking upwards thoughtfully.

Natalie and Julia glanced at one another before Ellie cleared her throat. "All the Southern comfort is gone by the way."

"Ma's gonna be so mad, but nevermind," Julia said with a sigh. "Anyway, you should bring Ellie to the festival as well."

"Good point," I said, stroking my non-existent beard and turning to my friend. "Okay then, Ellie, will you be my date to the Fireworks Festival?"

"What's the big deal about needing a date?" Ellie asked with a grimace, glancing at me and then Julia and then back to me again. "There's never this much fuss over the Fireworks Festival back on the mainland."

"Yeah, well, it's pretty much a couple festival over here," I explained knowledgeably. "There are some festivals here that you're kind of required to have a date for. And the Fireworks Festival is one of them."

"That sounds really lame," Ellie said with a raised eyebrow. "This place is a singleton's worst nightmare."

"Yep, pretty much," I said with a nod. "So? You wanna come?"

"Alright then," Ellie replied with a shrug.


	12. Fireworks

**Note from the Author:** Nyargh... this feels like another filler chapter. It took a while to get these chapters out because I was kinda going all squee over Animal Parade and my muses have been tempting me to write a fic about it instead, but I will finish this first! I also realised that I've been spelling Elli's name wrong this whole time... '-' for the sake of consistency I'm going to keep it as 'Ellie', but I just want to acknowledge the fact that I've been spelling it wrong. Urf, I'm babbling! Again, thank you for the reviews, I really appreciate it.

On with the chapter!

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><p><strong>Chapter Twelve<strong>

_Fireworks_

As I had expected, Ellie got on with my new friends like a house on fire. While I was busy working out on the farm during the day, Julia and Natalie excitedly took her around the town to meet everyone in pretty much the same way they had done with me. As always, they were delighted to have made a new friend and their chatter was a good distraction for Ellie. While she was still relatively broken-hearted over Trent, her bouts of crying dissipated over the next couple of days and by the day of the fireworks festival she had moved into the angry stage of 'mourning'.

"He's a jerk," she said to me angrily for the sixteenth time that day.

"Yes," I agreed automatically in response as I peered critically in the mirror at my reflection, only vaguely listening to her rant.

Back when I lived in the city I used to check the mirror regularly, but since moving to the farm I had barely looked in the mirror properly. I was always so rushed in the mornings that I didn't bother to check what I looked like and had stopped caring so much about my appearance. As I sat there staring at my reflection, I realised that I barely recognised myself anymore. My once shoulder length brown hair had grown longer and was sun streaked from all the time I had spent outside, and my skin, which had once been so pale, now had a healthy glow to it. My cheekbones had become a lot more defined since I had lost most of the puppy-fat from the exercise I'd been getting and while I am by no means gorgeous like Lanna or my three best friends, I was quite pleased with what I saw. I looked healthier and happier than I'd seen myself in years.

"You know, when Mark sees you again, he's going to regret everything," Ellie said as she stared at my reflection with me. "Farm life agrees with you. You look like such a babe now."

"And I wasn't a babe before?" I asked teasingly before flicking her nose. "I think anyone would look healthier after spending two seasons on this island. But even if I look great, it doesn't make much difference. This is a competition about who can win the most awards, not who looks the best."

"I think you'll win. Last time I spoke to Mark, he was having financial problems," she told me with a shrug.

"Financial problems?"

"Something to do about a burglar being in Zephyr. The thief stole a large chunk of Mark's saved up cash," Ellie replied with a sigh. "I don't want him to win this bet you've got going, but I hope he's doing okay. I haven't heard from him or Skye for ages."

Reminded of Skye, I put my hairbrush down and turned to look at her. "What's Skye up to nowadays? I haven't spoken to him since I left. He never answered any of my calls when I tried ringing and never messaged me back. Where is he?"

"I don't actually know," Ellie said uneasily. "He disappeared off campus shortly after you left. We figured that he'd just done one of his disappearing acts like he usually does, but he still hasn't come back and we've started getting a bit worried. Trent told me not to worry too much, since Skye's quite able to look after himself, but it's upsetting that he just disappeared off the face of the earth without letting us know if he's okay."

"I bet you he's been arrested or some heartbroken woman's locked him in her basement," I replied darkly. "He'll probably turn up in the middle of nowhere and ask for us to give him a lift home. That's what happened last time, remember?"

"I just don't get where he goes all the time," Ellie mused as we started heading out of the farmhouse. "I know he's a drifter, but jeez..."

"He'll be fine," I replied, locking up the house before heading into town.

There was an excited buzz in the air as most of the townspeople headed towards the docks to board the ferry that would take them to Meadow Island. Ellie seemed a little surprised at the turn out, but didn't comment on it as we finally spotted the shocks of red hair that belonged to Natalie and Elliot. They were stood with Julia, waiting for us, and I gave them a little wave as we approached. While Julia looked jubilantly happy, Natalie seemed a little down and I figured that it was probably because Pierre was not in attendance. I glanced over at the chef's house and saw the lights inside still on, indicating that he had no intention of coming, and I patted Natalie's arm comfortingly as we clambered onto the ferry together. After taking seats at the very front of the ship, Ellie poked me in the arm to get my attention.

"This place is kind of surreal," she whispered in my ear as she stared around at all the people that surrounded us. "I didn't realise places like this still exist. It's like everyone here knows everyone else."

"I know what you mean," I whispered back as the boat gave a little shudder and left the dock.

"Are you sure you're happy here? Don't you feel a little suffocated?" Ellie asked, glancing over at my other friends who were sat a short distance away from us, discussing something they'd seen on the television the night before.

"Not really," I said, running a hand through my hair pensively. "I like the community here. It's not all sunshine and smiles, but it's nice to really know my neighbours and to feel like I'm part of something. You just can't get that in the city."

"I think I'd probably go stir-crazy living in a place like this," Ellie confessed.

"No you wouldn't. You'd fit right in," I said.

"Possibly. But while I understand the appeal of the community and the charm of the environment here, I get the feeling that there's something not quite right about some of the people I met when Nat and Julia showed me around the other day," she replied, keeping her voice hushed so no one could hear. While I was curious to know what she meant by 'not quite right', I lost the opportunity to press her about it when the ferry arrived at the dock.

After our little group disembarked and picked out a spot at the back of the meadow, we sat down on the blanket Natalie spread over the ground which Julia promptly plonked herself down on and started pulling out various packets of snacks from the wicker basket she had brought with her. She pulled out packets of sweets, chips and other goodies that Ellie and I gratefully chomped on as we waited for the firework show to start. I curiously watched Gannon set the fireworks up while my friends chattered around me, noticing that the gentle giant looked quite harassed and stressed out. The older man glanced over towards his pretty daughter, Eliza, who was sitting with Chen's son, Charlie. The two children were holding hands and while I thought this was unbelievably sweet, Gannon obviously didn't like it and kept grumbling to himself.

"I can't believe Nick's agreeing to let us have my birthday party at his diner," Natalie said as Julia brought out a couple of cans of coke. "Not after what happened last time anyway."

"What happened last time?" I asked.

"At Denny's birthday last year, Will got drunk and started swinging from the hanging light fixtures," Julia explained. I stared at her, trying to tell if she was joking. She wasn't.

"He drank too much sambuca and started pretending he was a monkey. Nick was so angry about it afterwards. Thankfully Will's got more money than sense and just paid to have the lights fixed again, but still... It's surprising he agreed to let me have our birthday party there after what happened last time," Natalie explained.

"I think it's because Will promised not to drink on the night," Elliot suggested. "At least now he has Lily to tell him to ease off the booze."

"Not if _she_ gets drunk like she did at the bar after the Harvest Goddess Festival. She fell asleep when you were singing, remember?" Natalie said.

"She wasn't _drunk_, she was just tired," Julia said, rolling her eyes.

"You know," Elliot said, glancing at Julia with a faint smile. "Will was saying he was thinking of proposing to Lily sometime soon. He sounded pretty serious about it. I wonder if the first wedding will be his and Lily's."

"What?" Julia exclaimed, looking far more alarmed than I had expected her to. "They've only be dating for three seasons! What is he thinking?"

"He loves her, isn't that enough of a reason?" Elliot asked, clearly shocked by Julia's stricken reaction.

I was going to ask about whether Elliot knew when Will was planning to propose but I was interrupted by Gannon suddenly lighting the fireworks. They rose up into the air with noisy whines which were followed by a chorus of bangs, crackles and pops. The bright lights dazzled me and I stared up into the sky in a daze as the brightly coloured display burst into life overhead. They weren't anything spectacular like you'd see in the city, but for some reason I found them much prettier than any of the ones I'd seen back home. Suddenly reminded of home, I was hit with a pang of homesickness, remembering the last time I'd watched fireworks. I had been with Mark, Skye, Ellie and Trent, and we had all been drunkenly frolicking around the university campus when they suddenly went off. I turned and caught Ellie looking into the sky with the same expression and when she caught my eye she smiled sadly at me, understanding exactly how I felt. We continued to watch together in silence, every face on the field turned upwards to watch the display until they were finally finished and everyone broke out into applause.

"There's more to come!" Gannon bellowed so that everyone knew they could remain sat down for now.

I glanced around us and spotted Sabrina sat down on a red checked blanket, sipping from a bottle of water while her father prattled on at her about something. She had that lonely look she usually wore when she thought no one was looking and after a moment of deliberation I decided to go and say a brief hello to her. With Natalie and Julia's concerned stares following me, I headed over towards where she sat with her father, looking as pretty as a picture in spite of the down-trodden expression she wore. She had pinned her glossy long hair into a floral hairclip and her long, pale neck was left exposed and almost swan-like in the pale light of the moon.

"Hey Sabrina," I greeted her clasping my hands behind my back and smiling at her unsurely.

"Hello Chelsea," Sabrina said, glancing at her father pointedly.

Taking her hint, I turned to Regis and said with a small nod, "Good evening, Regis. It's nice to see you again."

"Yes, and you," Regis replied in his drawling, posh-sounding accent. He was returning the smile pleasantly but I could tell even in the darkness that it was a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "The fireworks were quite pretty, were they not?"

"Yes, very pretty," I agreed, awkwardly fidgeting with the hem of my skirt.

I wasn't sure what else to say. Now that I had greeted the pair of them, I felt a bit awkward talking to Sabrina with her father present. Although he was by no means a scary man, there was definitely something imposing about him and I felt on edge just having him staring at me the way he was.

His beady dark eyes stayed fixed on me as he commented, "Sabrina told me that you are hanging out in the library quite often now."

"Y-Yes," I replied nervously as I glanced at Sabrina who looked away shyly. Obviously she had told her father about the fact that we were hanging out together. "Sabrina told me that you had bought the library a bunch of books on agriculture so I figured I should start putting them to good use. I'm very grateful for the kind gesture by the way. It was very nice of both of you to do something like that."

"Oh, it's no problem," Regis replied, his small eyes narrowing slightly as he tilted his head to the side whilst considering me. "I find it quite admirable that you're taking your work on the farm so seriously, and to the point that you feel the need to study up on it! Let me guess, you were a scholar of some sort before you became a farmer, yes?"

I nodded and gave him a half-grimace, half-smile. "Yes, I was. I studied Anthropology at university and I guess I just got into the habit of studying up on things when I didn't know anything about them."

"That's quite a career change," Regis replied, his unkempt eyebrows rising towards his hairline. "What made you change your mind?"

I swallowed nervously. I felt like I was at a job interview. "I felt like I needed a change of pace," I replied simply. I didn't want to tell him too much about myself; the intensity of his stare was freaking me out a bit.

His smile widened at this and he said, "Well, I'm glad those books are being put to good use. It's nice that my Sabrina has some company at last." He patted his daughter's shoulder fondly and I couldn't help but notice that she seemed to stiffen at the touch, her eyes becoming hardened and her jaw clenching as if she was revolted by the show of affection. If Regis noticed this as well, he made no show of it and instead turned back to me with a placid smile. "If you ever need any specific book to study with, do not hesitate to ask me for it. I'll willingly help fund your studies, since it's for such a good cause."

I'm not sure why, but I took offense at his comment. Even though I knew he was only being kind, I couldn't help but feel that he was looking down on me as if I were some sort of charity case. 'A good cause', as he had put it. I felt demeaned, undermined and insulted by this one simply phrase and I struggled to keep my smile in place as I excused myself and said goodbye to Sabrina. Back then I wondered at how Sabrina had turned out so well considering the behaviour and attitude of her father; with a parent like that, I would have expected her to be proud and conceited, with the same autocratic attitude. Instead, she appeared so gentile, so fragile, that I just couldn't understand it.

When I reached my friends again, I ignored the questioning looks of concern that Natalie and Julia wore as I took my seat next to Ellie again. As much as I wanted to tell them what Regis had said to me, I knew that doing so would only reinforce Julia and Natalie's wariness of hanging around with Sabrina and so I kept my mouth shut and focused my attention on what they were talking about.

"I was actually expecting those fireworks to be quite underwhelming since this is only a small town festival," Ellie had said thoughtfully to Elliot as I sat back down next to her. "I'm glad I was wrong. They were quite pretty."

"Gannon's been doing these fireworks shows for the past six years now. He knows what he's doing," Elliot replied with a smile.

"Last time we saw fireworks, we were with everyone back at university," Ellie mused, leaning back on her hands and closing her eyes as she inhaled the slightly smoky scent that filled the air.

"Oh yeah, you know Mark, don't you?" Julia asked, as if it only just occurred to her. I remember thinking to myself, 'Can she get any blonder?'

"Yeah," Ellie replied, glancing at me questioningly.

She was obviously waiting for my permission to talk about him. On the day that Ellie had arrived on Verdure Island, she had avoided talking about Mark very much to Natalie and Julia, allowing me to do the talking. Even while drunk, Ellie was tight-lipped when it came to talking about how things were back home and I knew she was doing it to respect my privacy.

I gave her a short nod of approval before she added, "He's not exactly my favourite person right now, as you can understand, but I was quite good friends with him before. Him and Chelsea used to double date with me and Trent a lot, so we kind of became a fixed group. With Skye of course. Skye's our manwhore friend who dresses like he's Mick Jagger." Natalie let out a snort of laughter while I just grinned, remembering the tight leather pants that Skye always seemed to be wearing. "But yeah, that was our little group at university. It was fun until Mark decided to run off and become a farmer."

As she said this, my mouth fell open and I glanced at Julia who was looking at Ellie in confusion. "Farmer? He ran off to become a farmer?" Julia asked, clearly not understanding. "Don't you mean Chelsea?" Natalie shot me a look and I cringed into my hands. I had completely forgotten to tell Ellie not to mention the fact that Mark became a farmer as well.

"No, Mark made the decision to become a farmer first..." Ellie replied, glancing warily at me. "That's why Chelsea's here... She made a bet with Mark about who could run the most successful ranch out of the two of them... Didn't she tell you about it?"

Julia frowned, turning to me with a reproachful glare. "No, she didn't." When she saw Natalie shift uncomfortable she turned her blue eyes on her and caused the redhead to flinch. "Did you know about this as well?"

I cut her off, wanting to spare Natalie from Julia's rage. "Look, I'm sorry I kept it from you Julia. I just didn't want you to look down on me for coming here for such a reason. I mean, seriously, if I had told you exactly why I was here that first day I arrived, you would have thought I was nuts and kicked me out."

"No I wouldn't have!" Julia replied defensively. "Do you really think I'm _that_ judgemental? I mean, you told Natalie for crying out loud! And she's one of the most judgemental people in the world! You should have told me too!"

"She didn't tell me, actually," Natalie interjected. "I found out by overhearing grandpa talking about it with Vaughn. My grandpa told him about it."

"Vaughn knew about it as well?" Julia asked incredulously, her cheeks growing pink with anger. "So _that's_ why Vaughn doesn't like you! I knew there was a good reason behind it. And now I know. I know that you lied to me, to my mother and you were planning to keep on lying to us, weren't you?"

"I didn't want you to think badly of me," I replied lamely, looking at her with imploring eyes as Elliot tried to calm her down.

"Well, it's too late for that now," Julia replied huffily, turning away from me and focusing on the sky as Gannon set off the second round of fireworks.


	13. The Eagle Descends

**Note from the Author:** I apologise in advance to all your Velsea fans out there! Most of the Velsea action is coming later, I promise! And yes, this chapter title sucks... couldn't think of anything else though. Q.Q

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirteen<strong>

_The Eagle Descends_

Our group made its way back to the mainland in silence after Julia had chewed me out. She was too busy fuming and I was too upset with myself to try to talk to anyone, and when we arrived back at the dock Julia flounced off in the direction of the bar with Elliot following closely behind her. Natalie linked arms with me comfortably while Ellie followed close behind, her eyes downcast in embarrassment that she had landed me into trouble with my friend. I felt kind of bad for her at the time, since she hadn't meant to get me into trouble, but I was too wrapped up in my own self-pity and self-loathing to notice how she was feeling.

Even though I didn't really feel like being crammed into a bar full of people, I allowed Natalie to guide us over to the bar we'd gone to that night after the Harvest Goddess festival. With the same feeling of exhaustion, we entered the building together and I scanned the room with a frown. All the familiar faces were there and I wrinkled my nose at the amount of noise coming from the corner where I spotted Denny, Will and Pierre sat with a couple of Denny's fishing buddies and two miners that were close friends with Will. They were all laughing and joking loudly, as if they didn't have a care in the world, and I immediately groped round for Natalie's hand when I caught sight of Pierre.

"I'm fine," Natalie replied when I finally found her hand and gave it a squeeze. "He can do what he wants, I don't care."

The three of us approached the bar to order our drinks and I looked over in Julia's direction. Sat with Elliot and Gannon, she was glaring long and hard at me from her spot in the corner and I shot her an apologetic look which caused her to promptly look away.

After ordering our drinks, Natalie turned to me and asked me, "Do you want to go and sit with her?"

"I want to talk to her and to apologise," I replied tiredly. "I knew this would happen if she found out."

"I'm sorry, Chelsea," Ellie said dejectedly, staring into her drink that sat on the bar.

"It's not your fault. You weren't to know," I replied, putting my arm around her shoulders. "I should have warned you."

Before any of us could say anything further, someone came up to me and grabbed my arm brusquely. "Come with me. We need to talk," Julia said sternly.

Surprised by her grabbing me so suddenly, I spilled my drink on myself and angrily turned to glare at her. "Jeez, be careful will you?"

Julia scoffed and headed outside as I patted my dress dry. I had expected Julia to give me the silent treatment and I must admit that I was quite relieved that she was ready to have it out with me properly instead. I find it much easier to deal with direct confrontation than with people who harbour grudges and avoid me; it's just easier dealing with issues that are out in the open. After mopping up the mess I'd made of my dress, I headed outside to speak to her and found her leaning against the wall of the building wearing a peeved expression.

"Look, before you go off on one at me," I began, holding up a hand to stop her from speaking. "I just want to tell you that I'm sorry for hiding it from you. I wasn't lying when I said that I thought it was economically a good idea to come out here and become a farmer but, as you now know, it's not my main motivation."

"I appreciate that. I'm not mad at you for why you're here. I'm mad at you because I can't believe you didn't tell me even though Natalie knew. Do you know how it made me feel to know that my best friends were keeping something like that from me? Heck, even Vaughn kept it a secret from me!" Julia said.

"I know, I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier and I'm sorry that I kept it from you," I conceded. "But it's not like you don't keep stuff from me too. I know that you and Natalie are hiding something from me as well."

"What?" Julia said, frowning in confusion.

"At the beach the other day, you stopped Natalie from saying something to me about Sabrina. You didn't just do it once; you did it a couple of times. I'm not thick you know. I can tell that you're hiding something from me. I'm not the only one keeping secrets here."

Julia looked stunned. "I-I'm not keeping anything from you..."

"You obviously are," I replied, frowning at the fact that she had just lied right to my face. "I just find it a little upsetting that you're kicking up a big fuss about something small like this when you're obviously keeping something from me as well."

She looked trapped for a moment, her mouth falling open as she tried to think of something to say in her defence, which only confirmed my belief that she _was_ hiding something from me. What was it? And why was she keeping it from me specifically? It seemed alright that Natalie knew; so why did she feel the need to keep me in the dark about it? It was obviously about Sabrina, but what had Sabrina done in the past that I wasn't allowed to find out about?

"I-I can't tell you because it's not my secret to tell," Julia replied, recovering from her initial shock. "It's nothing to do with you and it's nothing to do with me, so I really can't tell you anything about it. And Natalie was wrong to even hint at it. It was all in the past and that's where it should stay."

"But why do you have to keep it a secret from me? What's the big deal?" I asked.

"It's none of your business!" Julia replied angrily, reminding me of the way her cousin had told me to 'mind my own business' only a couple of weeks before. "Stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!"

"You're such a hypocrite," I said with a shake of my head, before I turned and headed away from the bar.

I knew I shouldn't have left Ellie that night. Yes, I know that makes me a terrible friend and you're probably tutting at me right now, but I figured that Natalie would look after her and I needed some time alone to myself. I had considered going straight home after the argument, but instead I decided to go to the beach so I could sit and think. Thankfully most of the inhabitants of the town had gone home or to the bar after the fireworks festival, so when I arrived on the beach it was deserted and I silently took a seat in the sand, facing out to sea to watch the waves roll by. The smell of the sea rushed by me and I shut my eyes as I tried to calm myself, to stop beating myself up about what happened. It didn't work though. I drew my knees up to my chest and buried my face into my knees.

I hadn't wanted to fight with Julia. If I had been smarter, better at resolving conflict, I wouldn't have accused her of keeping things from me. I had said I was sorry and I should have left it at that. But I hadn't. I had picked a fight with her. Like I usually did when I felt that there was some sort of injustice being done against me. I _was_ a moron; Vaughn was right. I felt the sting of tears in my eyes as I remembered the look on Julia's face when I had called her a hypocrite. She looked like I had slapped her. Of course I understood where she was coming from; while we both had our secrets, at least she hadn't directly lied to me about it like I had.

"So you're here," a deep voice suddenly said behind me and I jumped. I looked round and saw that it was Denny. He wore a concerned frown and I quickly turned away as I wiped my tear-stained cheeks.

"Hey," I said tiredly, turning to face the sea as he took a seat beside me in the sand. He sat closer to me than I found comfortable, but I didn't want to shift away and seem rude.

"What are you doing out here on your own? I noticed that you didn't come back into the bar with Julia and I got worried. Are you alright?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly so he could get a better look at my face. "Oh, crap, you were crying. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you."

For some reason, his reaction made me laugh. "Don't worry, it's fine. I've stopped now."

"So what's up?" he asked.

I shrugged lethargically. "Nothing really."

"Julia looked a little upset when she came back into the bar earlier. Did you two fall out or something?" he asked.

"Something like that, yeah," I said sullenly. I didn't like that he was trying to pry into my business and I was tempted to tell him to sod off. Why was he there talking to me anyway? Why had he come looking specifically for me? Where was Lanna?

"Sorry if I seem a little too nosey. I'm just concerned, that's all. I don't like seeing you and Julia upset," he said.

I turned to him with a wry smile, "I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. I'm sure things will sort themselves out in the end."

"You two always got along so well before," Denny commented, looking away. "I was just worried about you."

"Why are you worried about me?" I asked a little too quickly.

I guess I must have sounded kind of angry or accusing because Denny stiffened and turned back to me with a hurt expression. "Aren't friends meant to worry about each other?"

I felt my breath catch in my throat as I stared at him in surprise. He looked very handsome in the light of the moon and I found myself feeling quite grateful to him for coming out to find me. Although I had wanted to get away from everyone so that I could distil my thoughts and calm myself down, having someone come out to look for me was strangely comforting. Denny was looking at me with such a worried expression that it made me think that maybe my mistrust of him was unjustified. He seemed genuinely concerned about me, since he'd come looking for me, and he didn't immediately make an excuse to leave when he'd seen that I'd been crying. When I'd first heard him approach, I would have thought he'd run off upon seeing my tears, but he hadn't. He'd stayed. It left me feeling a little conflicted.

"I'm just a little upset with myself right now," I told him, turning away and running a hand through my hair. "My argument with Julia was my fault. I lied to her about something and she got upset with me. I should have just apologised and left it at that, but instead I picked a fight with her about the fact that she was keeping things from me too. So yeah... it's entirely my fault."

"You shouldn't beat yourself up about it," Denny told me. "I'm sure you had a good reason to lie to her. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do something like that just to be malicious. You're a good person Chelsea."

I blushed. "I'm not as nice as you think I am," I replied. "I can be malicious when I want to be. It's just easier to be neutral."

"Everyone has the capacity to be malicious and mean. What sets people apart is whether they choose to be or not. For my part, I try to be nice to everyone, though I suppose there will be some people I just won't get along with," he said sheepishly.

"You're referring to Natalie, aren't you?" I asked with a small smile.

"However did you guess?" Denny asked sarcastically. "No, in all seriousness, I don't get why she doesn't like me. I've been nothing but nice to her, but every time she looks at me it's like she wants to put her fist to my face. It's part of the reason I don't come and talk to you all that much."

"Natalie's just a little prickly. She's like a hedgehog. Unbearably cute, but difficult to be close to."

"That's a pretty good analogy," Denny said with a chuckle. "But anyway Chelsea, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. I don't like seeing you upset."

The way he looked at me made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on ends. His words, although comforting, made my heart race and I felt uncomfortable when I realised that I was becoming far too attracted to him. I mean, what young woman would be able to resist the charms of a guy like Denny when he was so openly confessing that he was worried about her and wanted to listen to her if she had any problems?

I laughed nervously and scratched the back of my neck. "You shouldn't let Lanna hear you say that. She'll get jealous otherwise."

"I don't really care if she does," Denny said. My heart skipped a beat and he turned away with a frown. "I don't really like Lanna all that much. She's pretty and everything, but she talks about herself all the time. I'm starting to wonder if she even actually likes me as a person, since all she ever compliments me on is my looks and the fact that I have a boat. That's pretty much it."

I winced and grimaced when I heard this. "Surely she can't be _that_ bad," I said, though I knew it was probably true.

"She's really shallow. A lot of the time I don't want to hang around with her," Denny confessed, covering his eyes with one hand as if he was embarrassed. "She's just always clinging to me and I don't want to upset her by telling her to leave me alone. I know how she gets when she's mad. It's not pretty."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I think you're pretty cool as a person," I said, hoping to cheer him up a bit. Nothing wrong with paying a guy a bit of lip service, right? "You're really considerate and you're a great friend. Anyone can see that just by spending a little time with you."

"Uh... really?" he asked, his cheeks turning slightly red. "Th-thanks. I think you're cool too, Chelsea."

I hadn't been expecting him to react like that and I felt kind of embarrassed by it. We sat and chatted a bit more about how things were going on my farm and how his work as a fisherman was going before I told him I needed to head back home to get some sleep. Although I wasn't being entirely truthful when I said this, since I was used to staying up much later anyway, I felt a bit guilty for leaving Ellie at the bar and I wanted to make sure I was home before she was so I could open the door for her.

Denny insisted on walking me to my house like a gentleman, saying that he wanted to make sure I got home safely, and just as I was pulling my keys out at the door he put his hand on my arm. Looking up at him in alarm, I felt my heart skip a couple of beats as he bent down and pecked me on the cheek lightly. As he leant into me, I could smell the aftershave he wore and the salty smell of the sea on his skin. It was a smell that burned into my memory of that night. His lips lingered longer than was necessary on my skin and I was stunned for a moment when he finally pulled away from me. Although that kiss could have been interpreted as just a friendly good-bye kiss, I could tell from the way he looked at me that it was anything but.

"Thanks for chatting with me tonight," he said with a shy smile.

I gaped at him for a minute before hurriedly looking down at my feet. "I should be the one saying that. You came to find me after all. So, thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. I was just worried about you," he told me. "As I told you earlier, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. You know where to find me."

As he walked off back into town, I put my hand to my cheek where he'd kissed me and felt a familiar stirring in my chest that I had thought I would never feel again.

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><p>When Ellie was carried home later by Natalie and Julia, I felt guilt ridden when I saw her. She had obviously been cajoled by Will into drinking the rainbow shots and she kept complaining about the taste of the strawberry liquor staying on her tongue as Julia and Natalie helped me carry her over to the sofa. Once she had been safely deposited on it, Natalie turned to me with a scowl.<p>

"You just left us there," she said bitingly. "Where were you?"

I glanced at Julia sullenly before saying, "I went out to get some air."

Natalie let out an exasperated sigh. "You two need to sort your shit out and quickly. I don't want to have to sit on the fence between the two of you just because you're acting like babies and can't apologise to one another. Yes, Julia," she said, glaring pointedly at the blonde who had an outraged expression plastered all over her face. "You need to apologise to Chelsea. You're making me keep shit from her too and she has every right to think you're a goddamned hypocrite for getting all pissed about her lying to you about that bet."

I rubbed my forehead wearily as Ellie groaned from the sofa. "Look, Julia, I'm sorry that I lied to you about why I really came here, okay? And I won't push you about this big secret or whatever it is that you're keeping from me. I just don't want to fight with you about something so small."

Julia folded her arms moodily before rolling her eyes. "Fine. I accept your apology. I don't want to fight with you either. But there is something I want to know; what's this bet all about?"

I took a seat at my dining table and gestured for my friends (the sober ones) to do the same.

"Back at the beginning of Winter last year Mark told me that he was going to give up on university and move to a place called Zephyr so he can become a farmer. And he didn't consult me about it," I began. "I got angry with him about it, obviously, and somehow ended up making a bet with him about who could be the better farmer. Whoever can win the most festivals in their second year of running their farm will be the winner."

"Why would you make a bet like that?" Julia asked, completely nonplussed by my explanation.

"Because I was angry and stupid. And I always compete with Mark in everything. Since the man doesn't even know how to cook, clean or do anything domestic, I figured I had a good chance of beating him. I wanted revenge, you see. I didn't think he'd be able to make it as a farmer and I couldn't believe he was ditching me for such a ridiculous pipe-dream after six _years_ of being together," I told them as I stared at the table. "I wanted to show him that I was better than him and make him regret leaving me behind."

"Well, at least now it makes all sense. I always thought it was odd that you came out here with zero experience in running a farm," Julia said, resting her head in her hand and staring at me thoughtfully. "You're silly."

"You sound just like your cousin," I replied sullenly.

"Well, he's right," Julia said, smiling slightly.

I felt awash with relief when I saw her smile. It took the weight off that had been on my shoulders since our argument.

"You know, I went out to the beach on my own earlier," I told them, scratching at an imperfection on the surface of the table. "And Denny came looking for me.

My two friends' eyes widened. "What?" they said in unison.

"He said he was worried about me and told me that if I ever needed to talk to someone, he would be there for me," I said, glancing shyly up at them. They were both gawking at me.

Forgetting the argument earlier, a wide grin spread over Julia's face as she gushed, "Oh my gosh! He likes you! Denny likes you! I knew it! I KNEW IT! Oh gosh this is so exciting. You totally need to ask him to come with you to the Harvest festival! Make sure you do it before Lanna does!"

Natalie didn't look quite as pleased. "Stop your prattling," she said harshly to Julia. "I don't know why you're getting so over excited. It's just Denny."

"Just Denny? Just Denny?" Julia said, the pitch of her voice rising steadily. "He's the best looking bachelor left on this island! And he has a boat! And he totally likes Chelsea! I mean, come on, why would he pick someone as self absorbed as Lanna."

"Chelsea doesn't even like Denny that much," Natalie pointed out. While this had probably been true before, after my little chat with him I wasn't quite so sure.

"Well, er... I don't know about that Nat. I mean, he was very nice to me earlier. And..." I paused, wondering if it was a good idea to tell them about him giving me that peck on the cheek. I took a deep breath before continuing. "He gave me a little peck on the cheek earlier, after walking me home. He was very... gentlemanly."

"He gave you a peck on the cheek?" Natalie parroted dumbly.

As I had expected, Julia burst. "Oh my goddess! He kissed you! Oh gosh he kissed you! This... This is great! He DEFINATELY likes you. I mean... I haven't even seen him kiss Lanna yet! Oh goddess Chelsea, please tell me you'll go out with him. Denny is such a good guy. Everyone loves him."

"And he loves everyone..." Natalie added sullenly under her breath.

I grimaced at Julia's enthusiasm. I flirted with the idea of possibly doing as Julia wanted me to do. How would things work out if I _did_ date Denny? He was a nice, good looking guy and he was popular with everyone. But yet again, I felt something warning me to be careful. To not trust him. Little did I know back then that my instincts had been right on the money.


	14. Secrets

**Note from the Author:** zomigee, this was a hard chapter to write. I had this written out from a week back but I never published it because I didn't think it was ready. Now I just want to post them up and get it published so I don't get the urge to go back and change it. xD But yeah... more will come much later. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter Fourteen<strong>

_Secrets_

I can't really explain how I felt towards Denny after he walked me home that night. I can't deny that my heart jumped at the memory of him pecking me on the cheek, but I felt almost guilty for feeling that way. Even though that night on the beach had made me warm to him a little, I couldn't help but be suspicious. My suspicions grew further still when I spotted Denny and Lanna sitting on the docks next to each other the next day.

I had been on my way to Haila's Cafe with to meet up with my friends when I saw the couple sitting side by side happily chatting with one another. I didn't mean to spy on them. I was just planning to walk past and say 'hi' to Denny, but somehow I ended up hiding behind a large rock and listening to their conversation. As I leant against the giant boulder and strained my ears to hear, I realised from watching them that Denny's behaviour completely contradicted what he'd told me the night before. Instead of acting bored and irritated with the fact that Lanna seemed to only talk about herself, he grinned at her and encouraged her to keep talking, asking questions in all the right places. His body-language was also very easy to read; he was leaned into her and kept playfully nudging her or playing with her hair. It left me feeling very puzzled and quite irritated.

Having seen enough, I hurried over to Haila's Cafe and walked into the air-conditioned building with a troubled expression. Julia, Natalie and sat in the corner and waved me over when they spotted me. Ellie had taken to hanging around with the other two girls whilst I did my farm chores and I was quite glad that they were taking care of her whilst I was busy. The three of them had grown quite close in the short space of time that Ellie had been staying with me and I felt myself glow happily at the thought of all my best friends getting along so well.

After ordering my drink at the counter, I brought it over and took my seat next to Ellie, still frowning as I considered what I'd just seen outside.

"What's up? You look like you've got something on your mind," Ellie said before daintily taking a sip of her tea.

For a moment I wondered if maybe I shouldn't tell them about what I had seen, but I honestly wanted someone else's opinion about it. I played with the rim of my tea cup as I said, "You know how I told you guys about Denny coming to find me last night, and how we talked on the beach?" They all nodded and I nibbled my lip before continuing, "Well, last night I brought Lanna up in conversation and he told me that he didn't really like her. That she's selfish and talks about herself too much. And yet, just now, before I got here, I caught him outside with her, giggling and flirting with each other. They were sat side by side on the dock as if they were in their own little love-filled bubble."

"Oh he's obviously just acting that way with her because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings," Julia immediately replied, dismissive of Denny's behaviour. "Denny's just too nice for his own good."

"Stay away from him, Chelsea," Natalie said, her expression dark and brooding.

"Seriously, what's up with you?" Julia snapped. "You bitch about Denny almost as much as you bitch about Lanna, and Denny hasn't even done anything to antagonise you. What's your problem?"

"Just take my word for it," Natalie said forcefully, her eyes boring into mine as she ignored Julia's outburst.

"Thing is," I said, frowning and rubbing my forehead. "That kiss he gave me last night confused me a little. I mean... he could have just meant it in a friendly way bu-"

Natalie cut me off. "It was not meant in a friendly way. Trust me. I know him; he does not do shit like that just to be friendly. Just take my advice and stay away from him."

"You make it sound like he's an axe murderer or something," I said warily.

"Of course he's not an axe murderer," Natalie blustered, her cheeks colouring as she shifted in her seat.

"You're just being a bitch," Julia interjected.

"I'm being a bitch for being concerned about my friend?" Natalie retorted.

I raised my hands and silenced the both of them. They both turned to look at me with guilty expressions and I grimaced as I said, "Okay, settle down. I don't want you fighting over this, please."

"Just trust me, okay?" Natalie said.

Julia glared hard at Natalie before turning to Ellie and changing the subject. "Ellie, did you tell Chelsea about what you got up to in the bar last night?"

Ellie blushed and looked away nervously. "No."

I raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

Natalie grinned wickedly, leaning forward in her seat as she said, "She got a bit friendly with Will last night after Lily left. Turns out Will and Ellie know each other from when they were kids."

"What?" I asked, turning to Ellie in shock. "Are you serious?"

"I'm the heir to Hyde Pharmaceuticals... I know a lot of rich kids," Ellie replied peevishly.

"Even though you're an heiress," Natalie began with a bright smile, "you're nothing like Will. You actually seem pretty sensible."

"I don't think many people are like Will," I replied, stifling a giggle. "So what did you get up to with him? I guess from the way you were babbling when you got home last night that he made you take those horrible rainbow shots."

"Yes, they were absolutely foul," Ellie replied, her face deadpanning as she remembered it. "I can't believe he likes that shit. What is he? A girl? Well anyway, I did a bit of catching up with him, that's all. It's not my fault he decided to start trying to kiss me."

My eyes widened. "He tried to kiss you? Wait, I thought Elliot said he was planning to get engaged to Lily? Why is he trying to kiss Ellie?"

"Er, because she was the nearest thing to him? He gets like that when he's drunk. He tried to make out with Denny last time," Natalie replied with an amused smirk. "Well anyway, Ellie smacked him round the face and told us to take her home after that."

"I'm not ready to have some slobbering rich boy kiss me just because he's drunk," Ellie explained haughtily.

"Has Trent tried to ring you yet?" I asked her, peering over my teacup at her as she fidgeted.

"Yes, a few times," she replied.

"Did you answer?"

"No."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because if he wants me back then he has to make the effort to come here and get me himself," she replied resolutely, scowling determinedly into her own cup of tea.

"Good," Natalie said. "Make him crawl back. He was a jerk to kick you out like that."

Taking a sip of my tea, I glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was approaching five. I knew that at around about that time Sabrina was probably in the library and I wondered if maybe I should pop in and see her. I had wanted to talk to her at the fireworks festival, but with her dad present it was a bit too awkward to converse freely with her.

Once we had finished our tea, I said to the other girls, "I'm going to go and pop into the library to say hi to Sabrina."

Julia started and Natalie frowned. I thought they would protest but they kept their mouths closed and simply ushered Ellie along with them as we went our separate ways.

I entered the quiet building with an unsure smile and the librarian, who had grown used to seeing me by that point, waved me inside without even checking my library card. I stealthily navigated down the various aisles until I reached the area that Sabrina and I usually met up at. As I drew nearer, I could hear two people talking. I instantly recognised Sabrina's voice but was hard pressed to figure out who the other much deeper voice belonged to. Not wanting to disturb them, I remained behind the book case they were standing next to and listened until I realised who the second person was.

It was Vaughn.

"I can't do this anymore," Sabrina said, sounding clearly distressed.

"Listen to me. I don't care what he thinks. If he still refuses to accept it then there's only one thing we can do," Vaughn said softly.

I sank down to the floor as silently as I could so that I remained out of eyesight, drawing my knees up to my chest as I gently leant against the bookcase. I was so shocked to hear Vaughn's voice. Not because it was Vaughn, but because it sounded almost pleading and so ridiculously gentle. It was totally different from the abrupt gruffness that he used with other people.

"No Vaughn, please don't make me do this to you again," Sabrina breathed.

I heard a dull thud and felt the bookcase rattle slightly. My eyes widened and I covered my hand over my mouth to stop myself crying out in alarm. I glanced round and peered through the gap just above the row of books. I saw their legs very close together, as if in an embrace, and by the looks of it Vaughn had pinned Sabrina to the bookcase.

"You need to make up your mind Sabrina," Vaughn said softly, his voice sounding muffled.

"I already _have_ made up my mind!" Sabrina exclaimed, her voice resounding throughout the library. She pushed him away and took a clumsy step away from him. "I already have, so please just stop it. I can't do this anymore. My father has already made it quite clear how he feels about it and I can't go against him. You know that as well as I do."

"Why do you let your father control your life like that? Why don't you stand up to him? You seem perfectly fine standing up to me, so why can't you do it with him? Is his financial hold over you really that strong that you can't make a decision by yourself?" Vaughn asked angrily.

"Yes, it is," Sabrina replied weakly. "I just can't, Vaughn. I just can't."

"Fine," Vaughn replied, his voice steely with rage.

My heart thudded so loudly in my chest that I feared they would hear me. As I sat on the floor in confusion, I tried to make sense of what I'd just heard. What was Vaughn and Sabrina's relationship? Why was he speaking to her so gently before? He sounded almost like he was speaking to a lover. Wait... was _that_ it? Were Sabrina and Vaughn secretly dating? Was _this _the big secret that Julia had been trying to keep from me? And what of Sabrina? Were her original questions about my feelings for Vaughn because she was jealous? I'd thought she'd asked out of curiosity and because she wanted to talk about guys, but was her real motivation because she wanted to gauge how much of a threat I was?

The tumult of my thoughts was silenced as every one of my senses honed in on what was happening on the other side of the bookcase. I heard a shuffle and heavy footsteps. A surge of panic gripped me as Vaughn walked past the bookcase I was hiding behind and I prayed that he wouldn't notice me crouched on the floor. He didn't at first and strode past it without paying attention, but then he doubled back a couple of steps and looked again. When he laid his eyes upon me his face went as white as a sheet. His violet eyes widened and I felt so utterly guilty when I saw his expression; he looked so vulnerable and upset. I had never seen him wear an expression like that before and it disturbed me.

"I-I... I was just..." I stuttered, pointing in Sabrina's direction behind me.

"You were just eavesdropping," Vaughn snapped, before turning on his heel and leaving.

"Ch-Chelsea?" Sabrina asked, looking around the bookcase and seeing me on the floor. Her face was aghast and her eyes were wide with horror. "Oh my god. Did you just hear that?" Tears were in her eyes and the hand that covered her mouth was trembling.

I bowed my head and tightly clasped my hands together in front of me. Yes, it had been an accident, but I felt ever so guilty after seeing Vaughn's expression. I should have made my presence known to them instead of hiding and listening in on them. "I'm sorry."

"I-It's okay," Sabrina said, coming forward and dropping to her knees next to me. "It's our fault for having that conversation in a public place."

"But I shouldn't have hid," I replied. "I'm sorry Sabrina."

"I-It's okay, really," Sabrina said with a tired sigh. "D-Did you hear everything?"

"Yeah," I said, glancing at her. "I'm a little confused though."

"I didn't mean to hide it from you," she said, wiping her tears away.

"Is Vaughn the guy you were in love with? Is that why you were asking me if I liked him?" I asked.

She winced. "N-No, I wasn't... Vaughn and I... we..." she trailed off and looked away.

"It's okay. I guessed that you were holding _something_ back," I said frowning to myself. "And I'm sorry for eavesdropping just now. I honestly didn't mean to. I just didn't want to disturb you and I ended up just listening."

"You don't need to keep apologising," Sabrina said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "It's my fault for not telling you before."

"Well it's not really my business to know," I said.

"D-Do you know about my original relationship with Vaughn?" she asked me tentatively.

I shook my head. "I didn't even realise you _had_ a relationship with him."

Sabrina bit her lip, considering what she was going to say, before she took a deep breath and said, "I wasn't lying to you when I said that the guy wasn't my boyfriend. Vaughn was actually my fiancé. We were engaged."

A piece of the jigsaw puzzle fell into place. My jaw clenched as I remembered the way Julia had reacted when I had told her I knew she was keeping something to do with me - it had nothing to do with me, it wasn't her secret to tell. It was Sabrina and Vaughn's.

Sabrina played with the hem of her skirt as she dropped back onto her haunches next to me. "Do you want to know the whole story?" she asked me. Her voice was shaking with emotion and part of me didn't want to force her to relive it. However, the inquisitive part of me won over.

"Yeah," I replied. "It would be nice to know a bit more about you."

Sabrina smiled weakly at me. "I'm sorry I kept it from you."

"You had your reasons."

She nodded once before beginning to explain with downcast eyes. "Vaughn and I had been secretly seeing each other for over a year when he eventually asked me to marry him. I was so happy that I immediately said yes but I knew my father wouldn't approve and so I kept it a secret from him, and I lied to Vaughn by saying that I already had my father's approval when I didn't. As the time went by and Vaughn kept pushing for us to start organising the wedding, I grew anxious and realised that I would have to tell my father sooner or later. When I eventually did... well you can guess how he reacted." She paused and pulled the same face I'd seen her make at the fireworks festival. "'_Why would I let you marry a livestock dealer when you can easily be betrothed to foreign princes or wealthier, more affluent men_?' was how he put it. And so Vaughn and I broke up." Sabrina expression became hardened as she remembered it, her fists clenching in her lap. "This was two years ago and I was only eighteen at the time. I was too scared to elope like Vaughn wanted me to. Even now, I wouldn't be able to run away with him."

After hearing this, I was awash with sympathy for her. Even as she sat in a heap on the floor next to me with her face tear stained and her eyes downcast, she still looked so delicately pretty that I couldn't help think to myself that she looked like a princess from a fairytale. In a way, she was. Her father was the evil villain that kept her trapped in a castle and Vaughn was the knight in shining armour trying to steal her away. She pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her nose before asking me, "So how much of that conversation did you actually hear?"

"Enough," I said. "He still loves you, doesn't he?"

Sabrina turned away, her expression becoming almost bitter. I didn't understand this reaction at the time and thought that maybe she was angry at me for saying something so personal. There was a long pause before she finally spoke again. "I love Vaughn very much, but because of my father... My father ruined everything. Like he does with every other aspect of my life. I find friends, he rejects them. I find a good man to love me, he rejects him. I find a possible career in the city, he rejects it. Everything I do for myself, he ruins. And yet I do everything he says without questioning it, all because I'm dependent on the money he has. I'm like a junkie with a habit."

This caustic appraisal of her relationship with her father shocked me a little. Sabrina was usually quite soft-spoken and mild mannered and it was at that moment, as we both sat on the floor of the library next to the shelves that held the books on Women's Suffrage, that I realised that Sabrina wasn't as gentle as she appeared to be. As I stared into her brown eyes searchingly, I sensed a hardness in her that I hadn't noticed before. Her expression was so bitter, so angry, that I realised then that she absolutely hated her life. While her father meant well, he had oppressed his daughter and she resented him for it from the bottom of her heart.

"If you know you're dependent, than why don't you break the habit?" I asked her.

"You sound just like Vaughn," she snapped. The tone she spoke with was so cold and so far removed from how she usually spoke that I jumped a little. It was like it was a completely different person talking. "You don't understand what it's like."

"Maybe I don't, but it's unhealthy to stay trapped in a relationship with your father like that," I replied, a little taken aback by the way she'd just spoken to me. "Why do you need to consult your father all the time? Just do what you want."

"How can I? I have no money to buy a place to live or pay for rent or bills or anything," she said angrily. "I don't know the first thing about living alone."

"Neither did I," I said, smiling as I remembered how panicked I was when I first moved to the islands.

"But you had people to support you," she replied, growing irritated with me.

"Not really. I had my dad to talk to about all the stuff I needed to do, but I'm sure your dad would do the same for you if you were in my position," I said with a shrug.

Upon hearing this, her expression suddenly turned very ugly. For someone so naturally beautiful, her scowl was really quite terrifying to see and I immediately saw traces of Regis's face in it. I actually flinched.

"My dad wouldn't help me. And you had friends like Natalie and Julia supporting you. I would not be as fortunate as you were, so don't dare compare us," she spat.

I paused for a few seconds before saying, "Well, I'm your friend. I would support you if you needed someone to help you."

The ugly scowl that made her look quite frightening vanished and she looked down at her hands penitently. She smoothed a lock of her black hair away as tears began to mist her eyes and I pulled her into a hug when she started crying in earnest.


	15. The Cake Is Not A Lie

**Note from the Author:** Hey again! Here's the next chapter. And in answer to your question **liveoutloud120**, yes it will be a Velsea fic. But it will take a while for the romance stuff to start between the two of them, since they both have so many issues going on in their lives right now. Seriously though, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! (o'-'o) I'm really happy you guys are taking the time to read my story. .-.

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><p><strong>Chapter Fifteen<strong>

_The Cake Is Not a Lie_

I think it's safe for me to say that I had a lot of questions for Julia after what had happened in the library, but I didn't get much of a chance to speak to her until the following day at Natalie and Elliot's joint birthday party. Julia had been so busy with preparations the night before that when I had tried to ring her up to talk about it she pretty much told me to buzz off, since she was frantically trying to blow up balloons. While I thought it was a little odd for her to be blowing up balloons for a twenty and twenty-one year olds' birthday party, I kept my opinion to myself and agreed to wait.

The party was in full swing when Ellie and I arrived at the diner and the minute we stepped into the crowded, noisy room, our eyes were assaulted by the glare of primary colours and a blast of loud music. I was a little in awe of what Julia had done to the place. A mass of streamers, balloons and various other party decorations were strewn all over the room and for a moment I had to remind myself I was in the diner and not a circus tent. I caught sight of Natalie at the back of the room, sullenly nursing her drink as she looked around the room in thinly veiled distaste; this was obviously not what she had envisaged when she had agreed to leave Julia in-charge of the party plans. I even heard Ellie mutter 'what the hell' under her breath when she followed in behind me.

"Hey Chelsea! Hey Ellie!" Elliot greeted us at the door with an expectant grin, eying the packages in my hands curiously.

"Happy belated birthday, Elliot," I said, handing him one package before turning to Natalie who had made her way over to us as well. She gave me a shy smile as I gave her present to her too. "And happy birthday Nat."

"Wh-what's this?" Elliot exclaimed after ripping off the wrapping paper of the gift I had given him. He held the book up and peered at it in horror just as Julia approached us with drinks. The blonde let out a shriek of excitement and after handing us our drinks she grabbed the book out of her boyfriend's hands. She was examining it with the biggest grin I've ever seen her wear.

"Oh my god! You actually got it for us!" she squealed, bouncing up and down elatedly.

Natalie peered around me and Ellie to look at the book and then burst out laughing. "You've got to be kidding me! You actually bought him the karma sutra!"

"And it's illustrated as well!" Julia shrieked, flipping the book open as Elliot looked up at his girlfriend in terror.

"Y-You're not seriously thinking that we..." Elliot trailed off, staring up at Julia as she eyed him hungrily over the book. Yes, she was seriously thinking it. In fact, she hadn't been able to shut up about it that night that she came over to my place with Natalie.

"Oh god, that's disgusting," Natalie said, shuddering in revulsion and unwrapping her own gift. She peered at the cute cotton mittens and scarf that Ellie had bought her and then at the other box. "It's a bit early for scarves isn't it? We're meant to be having a warm Fall this year," she said to us.

"Quit complaining and open the other box," I told her. Natalie did as she was told and when she saw what it was she started grinning almost as brightly as Julia.

"What the heck, you bought me an e-reader?" Natalie gushed, turning the slim-lined tablet over in her hands and admiring it. "Didn't this cost a ridiculous amount of money?"

"Not really," I said with a shrug. "I got it off of the internet, so the price wasn't too bad."

"Hey!" Elliot exclaimed crossly. "Is my present really just that book? It's not exactly what I wanted."

I raised an eyebrow at him and he at least had the good grace to look shame faced. "No actually. If you can extract the book from your girlfriend for a few seconds, you'll find that I included a six month subscription to that mechanics magazine you're always reading. It's tucked into the back page."

Elliot immediately got to his feet and swiped the book from Julia who began to pout moodily.

As Ellie turned to chat to Natalie about her present and Elliot was peering at the magazine prescription happily, I turned to Julia and said, "We need to talk. In private."

She shot me a look of annoyance. "Argh, not this again. It's Elliot and Natalie's party today, can't it wait?"

I frowned and leaned into her, muttering in a low voice so that only she could hear, "I saw Vaughn and Sabrina in the library together yesterday."

Julia froze, wide-eyed and horrified. "Oh."

"Let's go somewhere else," I suggested uncomfortably.

"Yeah," Julia replied breathlessly, looking around the room and leading me to dimly lit kitchen. Various plates of food refills for the buffet table covered the stainless steel countertops and I had to remember to close my mouth after gaping around.

"How much money did you spend on this party?" I asked her, turning to her with disbelieving eyes.

"Too much. I got a bit over enthusiastic about it," she replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck tiredly. "Natalie's real pissed at me because of it."

"Well you wasted so much money," I said, casting a sweeping glance around at the food. There were cocktail sausages, tiny pastries, bowls of chips, dips, and various other finger foods. I could also vaguely smell garlic bread cooking and I turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "You really love the two of them, don't you?"

"They're my childhood friends. They're like my family," Julia replied, her expression pained as she avoided making eye contact with me. "Anyway, back on topic. You saw Vaughn and Sabrina... and?"

"I went to the library yesterday to see Sabrina and I heard Vaughn practically asking her to elope with him," I told her. "I spoke to Sabrina afterwards and she told me all about her engagement with Vaughn before. Is that what you were trying to keep from me?"

Julia grumbled and nodded, rubbing her forehead irritably. She looked tired and obviously didn't want to talk about it, but I didn't want to spend the entire party thinking in complicated circles about Vaughn and Sabrina when they weren't even there. When she opened her eyes again, she stared at me hard for a moment before sighing and saying, "That girl broke my cousin's heart."

"Yeah, Sabrina explained that bit to me," I told her, leaning against one of the counters. "She's pretty cut up about it."

"So she should be," Julia replied angrily. "I've _never_ seen Vaughn that upset about something. I mean, he's pretty surly to begin with, but you should have seen him after she called off the engagement. We hadn't known that he'd been seeing Sabrina until then, but after he slammed a door so hard that he smashed the window in it, we knew that something was wrong with him and asked him what it was."

"It's not her fault," I began to say, but Julia scoffed.

"It _is_, Chelsea. If she had known from the start that her father would disapprove then she shouldn't have accepted Vaughn's proposal to begin with. She strung Vaughn along for over a _year_," Julia hissed. I was stunned by this; Sabrina had omitted this fact from her retelling of the events. "It was so hard for him to tell us about it. He actually let me _hug_ him afterwards. And he usually _hates_ hugs."

"I still don't think she's entirely to blame. She loved Vaughn. She couldn't stop crying after she told me all about it. She still loves him," I said.

"She doesn't truly _love_ him. If you truly love someone then you worry about them. You think about what's best for them, what makes them happy. You think about their welfare and wellbeing, not just about only yourself," Julia said bitterly. "And Sabrina wasn't thinking about Vaughn at all. Her selfish 'love' for him smells pretty rotten to me."

For some reason Julia's words struck a chord in me. If you truly love someone then you worry about _them_. You think about what's best for _them_, what makes _them_ happy. Had I been thinking about Mark's welfare when he told me that he wanted to drop out of university? Wasn't I being selfish when I got upset with him for leaving me behind? I had only been thinking about myself when he told me; I had been thinking only of my feelings of betrayal and hurt. I never once truly considered how Mark felt. Had Ellie been right? Had I never been truly in love with Mark? Was my 'love' for him what Julia called a rotten, 'selfish love'?

"I'm guessing Vaughn isn't over Sabrina yet," I commented shakily, staring at the ground.

"I thought he was, but I guess I was wrong, since you heard him asking her to elope with him," the blonde replied, folding her arms across her chest. "He's a damned fool. He should know that pursuing her is a lost cause. It's like ramming your head against a brick wall. The only way that girl will be free is if she loses her daddy-complex and moves out."

"She actually hates him," I replied. "Regis, I mean."

"And yet she stays with him. She enjoys the comfort of her lifestyle and she wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world. Not even Vaughn's love. As I said, completely selfish," Julia replied. "Are we done here now? I don't want to disappear from the party for too long." She glanced irritably at the clock and then at the kitchen door.

"You hate her, don't you?" I asked.

"I don't _hate_ Sabrina. I just don't want her messing with my cousin anymore. Or you," Julia replied stiffly.

"What?"

"I've known Sabrina since we were kids, Chels. Sabrina's innately selfish, she always has been. Just be careful not to tread on her toes or annoy her," Julia said with a frown. "I was actually pretty disturbed when I found out that you were hanging out with her."

"You're starting to sound like Natalie when she talks about Denny," I warned.

"Don't even get me started on that. Natalie is starting to really piss me off about it lately," Julia replied with a sigh. "Anyway, let's get back to the party."

After we left the kitchen together, the two of us made a bee-line for the drinks table and I quickly mixed myself a glass of rum and coke while Julia tried to tidy up the present pile that had been made just off to the side. I sipped my drink quietly, scanning the room as people bustled around me. Some were dancing, some simply chatting. With the alcohol flowing and the music pumping, there was a buzz of excitement in the air as the guests poured in and mingled with one another after greeting the birthday boy and girl with presents. I saw familiar faces from all over town. A couple of Elliot's buddies from the shipping company had turned up and I spotted Lily chatting with Natalie over in the back corner with a couple of the waitresses from Haila's cafe. Despite his promise, Will got drunk for the second time that week and after an hour of solid drinking he proceeded to accost most of the female guests with sloppy kisses before grabbing Elliot and pulling him into a ballroom dance. The song they danced to? LMFAO's 'Sexy and I Know It'.

And Lily stood filming the whole thing on her camera phone.

"And here I thought she was meant to be keeping him _off_ the booze tonight," Natalie said as she came up to me. Will suddenly dipped Elliot before kissing him on his cheek.

We continued to watch the spectacle in silence before Denny and Lanna turned up at the door. Natalie stiffened when she caught sight of them. Denny was dressed casually in baggy denim trousers and a black vest, while Lanna was pretty in pink, wearing a short mini-dress that showed off her legs. They looked pretty good together and I found myself feeling curiously jealous of them. Natalie folded her arms across her chest grumpily as she muttered, "What the hell is _she_ doing here?"

"Denny is Elliot's friend," I told Natalie, trying to remain calm even though I was feeling pretty narked about it too. "And he's obviously brought a _date_. Just don't pick a fight with them tonight, alright?"

"It's my birthday party. I told Elliot not to let Denny bring that bitch with him," Natalie snarled nastily, glaring in her brother's direction as Julia wrestled him away from Will.

"What on _earth_ is with all these balloons?" Lanna asked shrilly as someone accidently knocked one of the balloon towers in her direction. "Are we at a kids' party or something?"

I glanced over at Julia and saw the pained expression on her face after hearing Lanna's comment. My friend clearly knew that she'd overdone it, but to hear one of the guests say it so derogatively had clearly upset her. My fist clenched and I narrowed my eyes as the pop-singer breezed past Elliot and greeted Lily warmly – as if the birthday boy wasn't even there.

I caught Denny's eye as I continued to glare in their direction and he gave me a small wave. My glare softened and I gave him a half-hearted wave back. I remembered the peck on the cheek that he'd given me, but then also remembered the way he'd been flirting with Lanna on the dock the next day. I wasn't sure how to feel about it all as he continued to stare in our direction, his brown eyes looking at me almost longingly. Nervous and seeking a distraction, I downed the rest of my drink before turning back to the drinks table and making myself another one.

"Don't drink too much," Ellie told me as she came up behind me and linked arms with me.

"That's rich coming from you. You got completely bladdered the other night," I replied.

"I know," Ellie replied cheerfully. "You know, that guy keeps looking at us. That's Denny, right?"

"The one and only," I said, turning back around and meeting his gaze. He gave me a charming smile and I returned it with a much smaller one, my eyes lingering on the way Lanna's arm was linked with his. "And he brought his girlfriend with him."

"I don't like Lanna. I hated her music video," Ellie replied, her nostrils flaring.

"Why, did Trent watch it on repeat like Mark did?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No. Trent isn't shallow like that. I just don't like how she was using sex-appeal to sell her music."

I nodded slowly. I was about to make a comment about Ellie's taste in music, but I was silenced when I saw Denny extract himself from Lanna and begin walking over towards Ellie and I. He ruffled his curly hair shyly, smiling apprehensively at us as he approached. I hated how good he looked.

"Hi Chelsea. And Ellie, is it?" he said, his eyes darting between the pair of us.

"Yeah," Ellie said, grinning up at him encouragingly. "And you're Denny, right? I've heard so much about you." My eye twitched as I saw Ellie smirking.

"A-All good I hope," Denny stammered. "So, Chelsea, are you feeling better now?"

"Huh?"

"Before... you and Julia had that argument?" he reminded me.

"Oh. Yeah, it's all sorted now," I replied. "Things with Lanna are better, I guess? You two seemed pretty cosy yesterday."

Denny's smile dropped just a fraction. "Yeah," was all he said in response. He clearly knew he'd been caught out and I tried not to make my smile seem too smug.

Just then the door to the diner swung open again and in came Alisa and Shea. Holding hands and blushing, the awkward looking couple looked so sweet that I immediately started grinning. Alisa was dressed in her usual white priestess dress, but her hair was tied into a short plait, while Shea was sporting some normal looking clothes for once. It seemed that Alisa has managed to harangue him into wearing khaki canvas shorts and a slightly baggy white t-shirt, though it didn't really suit him. Spotting me, Alisa hurried over to us with Shea in tow and greeted each of us while Shea eyed Denny suspiciously.

"Goddess bless you. I just want to say thank you for the advice you gave me the other week," she said with a smile.

I smiled crookedly as Shea's eyes narrowed at Denny who was looking at him as if he were some sort of creature from out of space. "I'm glad I was able to help. Especially after all the extra lessons you gave me for the Harvest Goddess festival. I'm guessing everything is going... well?"

Alisa's eyes were practically sparkling. "Yes! Shea," she said, turning to him and causing the wild boy to stop glaring at Denny. "Shea, I want you to meet Chelsea. Chelsea is my good friend. Say hello to her."

Shea blinked at me a couple of times before a wide grin stole its way across his lips. "Nice to meet you!" he said brightly. Then he did something I hadn't been expecting. He leant forward and kissed me. On the lips. In front of everyone.

"Sh-Shea!" Alisa cried out, grabbing his arm and looking extremely alarmed when Shea pulled away from me. I had become pretty much paralysed by Shea's sudden assault and wasn't sure how to react when the wild boy turned back to Alisa with a pleased smile.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Alisa asked, clearly distressed.

"I doing what you told me. You say I should kiss people I like. You say Chelsea is friend of Alisa, so I like her for being friend. I kiss Chelsea because I like her," Shea explained, confused by the priestess's distress. "I do wrong?"

Clearly Shea had gotten his wires crossed.

"Y-You should only kiss people you like-like," Alisa corrected, her face vaguely resembling a tomato as she blushed furiously. "You should only kiss me. Not other people. Kissing is... an intimate thing to do."

"So I no kiss Chelsea?" Shea confirmed, peering at me as Ellie and I tried our best not to burst out laughing. Denny was also struggling not to succumb to a fit of giggles.

"No. You don't kiss anyone else except for me," Alisa said clearly, glancing at me apologetically. "C-Come along now Shea, let's go say hi to Elliot and Natalie... without the kissing."

Alisa guided Shea away just as Ellie, Denny and I finally gave into our laughter at the whole situation. Not wanting to upset Alisa more, I stumbled out of the diner so I could have my laughing fit outside and Denny followed close behind. I had expected Ellie to follow us out as well, but when I turned around I found that only Denny had tailed me and we were alone. My laughter left me immediately. The air outside was muggy and I could hear the cicadas creaking from a nearby bush as the moon cast an unearthly glow upon the town.

"Goddess, I haven't seen anything that funny in a while," Denny wheezed, wiping tears from his eyes as he leant with his back against the wall of the building. He didn't notice how awkward I felt now that I was alone with him.

"Y-Yeah... I feel sorry for Alisa," I mumbled, wiping my lips when I remembered the impromptu kiss. "I can't imagine how difficult it must be for her to try and explain all this to him. He's pretty much been living on his own this whole time. They really are like Tarzan and Jane."

Denny let out another short laugh. "You're right. They are aren't they?" I smiled awkwardly in response and he suddenly looked away, as if he was confused about something. I was about to ask him what was wrong when he suddenly said, "I'm a little jealous of him."

"Huh?" I asked. Then I guessed what he meant. "Oh, that he and Alisa are together? You're kinda like that with Lanna, aren't you?"

"No," he said, turning back to me. "I meant that I'm jealous that he kissed you."

A sudden gust of wind swept past us and I shivered.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" he asked me, cocking his head to one side.

This question struck me dumb. Was he serious? How on earth was I meant to answer that properly? He was looking at me so sadly, so expectantly that if I answered truthfully then I would have looked like a real bitch. But if I tried to lie and deny it then it would be pretty obvious since I wasn't acting very natural.

In the end I gave no response and he took my silence as a yes, sighing as he lent his head back against the wall and looked up at the sky.

"Is it because I'm always hanging around with Lanna?" he asked.

I shook my head and looked away, focusing my eyes on two pebbles on the ground.

"Chelsea, look at me," he suddenly said. I turned back to him and found him looking at me with a hurt expression. "What's wrong? What have I done? If it's about Lanna, I thought I had already explained that to you."

"It's nothing," I replied shortly, looking back down at the pebbles. "I just don't really understand you."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Before I could reply, the door to the diner swung open and Lanna stepped out, looking around for Denny with a slightly panicked expression. She turned to us with suspicious eyes and I tried not to smile with relief at the sight of her. She had great timing.

"Th-There you are," Lanna said, forcing herself to smile at Denny who looked back at her with an irritated frown. "I was looking everywhere for you."

"I was just having a chat with Chelsea about something," Denny replied calmly.

"Well, I'm gonna get back to the party," I said quickly, seeing my opportunity to escape. I ignored the pleading look that Denny shot me as I strode past him and avoided Lanna's gaze as I pushed open the door to the diner once more.

Yes, I'm a chicken shit. I ran away at the first opportunity instead of seeing the conversation through and asking Denny all the questions that ran through my mind after our encounter. What did he want from me? Did he really like Lanna? Why was he giving me mixed signals? It was pretty clear that he was insinuating that he liked me, since he said that he was jealous of Shea for kissing me, but what about Lanna? Was he trying to play the both of us? Once again I found myself over analysing everything that had just happened, asking myself questions that I didn't know the answer to. Did I even _want_ to know the answer? Even if Denny had come right out and told me he liked me, how would I have responded?

For the rest of the night I carefully avoided Denny and made sure I was never without one of my friends, attaching myself to either Ellie, Natalie or Julia so that I was never alone. They knew something was wrong, but they weren't able to ask me about it properly since there were so many people in the diner and the din of the music made it difficult to hold private conversations. As various party anthems blasted through the speakers, I watched as Julia and Elliot stole away into one of the back rooms together, while Ellie was dancing with some of Elliot's co-workers.

"We should go dance with her!" Natalie shouted to me over the noise of the music.

I shook my head but she frowned and made a lunge for my hand, dragging me into the space that had been cleared for dancing. I'm not really much of a dancer when I haven't had a drink and I felt extremely self-conscious as Natalie pulled me over to dance with Ellie, who extracted herself from the boys she'd been dancing with so that the three of us could dance together. With unknown bodies dancing around me and bumping into me, I found it hard to enjoy myself. It was too hot, I was sweating more than was comfortable and I felt trapped by the people dancing around me. It also didn't help that I'd lost track of where Denny was. In my paranoia, I had been keeping tabs on where he was so that I could avoid him, and I felt a surge of panic as I couldn't spot him in the pockets of people around the edge of the large room.

"Would you relax?" Natalie yelled at me over the music, nudging me with her elbow. "You look like someone rammed something up your ass."

"I'm really not in the mood for this," I yelled back at her with a shrug. "And it's getting kind of late. I should head home."

"Oh, come on Chels! It's my birthday," Natalie cried out in dismay. This convinced me to stay and I'm mighty glad I did, otherwise I would have missed out on what happened five minutes later.

At around quarter to eleven the door to the diner swung open again, causing a refreshing breeze to sweep inside the room while several heads turned to see who had entered. At first, I thought it was a walking cake. Literally. In the doorway stood a large, three tier cake covered in light blue icing with intricate flower patterns iced onto the sides decoratively. The cake was being carried by two purple clad legs. I glanced at Natalie briefly and saw her staring at the cake in disbelief. We both watched as the cake made its awkward progress through the room towards us and I knew then that it was probably Pierre behind it. I made a grab for Natalie's hand and she squeezed it back as the cake came ever closer, people moving out of the way so that Pierre could come through.

As we watched the cake's progress, I caught sight of Denny standing out of the way for Pierre as he made his way through. A curious expression passed over the fisherman's features when he thought no-one was looking. Gone was the charming, shy smile that I was used to seeing him wear and it was instead replaced with a haughty look of loathing and disdain. His dark eyebrows were pulled together in a frown, his eyes narrowed to slits and his top lip was curled up ever so slightly. I couldn't help but connect that expression with what happened next.

Suddenly Pierre lurched forward, as if someone had tripped him, and he fell face first into the cake. Other onlookers emitted 'oohs' and hisses of pity as Pierre hit the floor and Natalie immediately released my hand to rush over to him. By this point the music had been turned down and Natalie crouched down in front of the chef with a look of concern as Pierre sat back on his hunches and tried to wipe the remnants of the cake off of his clothes and face. He was a sticky, cake-covered mess, but he still somehow managed to laugh at himself through his embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry Natalie. I ruined your birthday present because I'm so clumsy," Pierre said, laughing nervously as Natalie helped him brush off the bits of cake that had ended up all over his purple jacket. "It was meant to be my apology too."

Natalie didn't say anything in response, but stopped brushing the bits of cake off of him. Her dark brown eyes searched his face wonderingly for a moment. Then, slowly, she inched forward. Pierre froze, his eyes half closing, expecting her to kiss him. But she didn't. Instead, she licked the corner of his mouth.

"That was a good cake," Natalie said with a sly smile when she pulled back. "I miss your cooking."

Pierre stared up at her blankly for a long moment before he suddenly grabbed Natalie's shoulder and pulled her back down, closing the gap between the two of them again and kissing her passionately. A chorus of laughs and applause went up around the room as the couple began making out right there on the floor and I looked away in embarrassment for them. As I turned away, I spotted Denny exiting the diner with Lanna trailing behind him. As sweet as the scene had been, I found myself wondering about that look I'd seen Denny wearing just as Pierre tripped up.


	16. Residue

**Note from the Author: **Super short chapter. It's the reason why I released it in conjunction with Chapter Seventeen. Just a bit of a warning, at this point in the story I'm going to start writing from other people's POV for the sake of the plot. I'll try not to make it too confusing and make it obvious who it is that's talking!

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><p><strong>Chapter Sixteen<strong>

_Residue_

"Vaughn, have you signed off that contract with Horn Farm yet?"

I looked up at my father as he poked his head around the door of my office and frowned. "Yeah, I scanned it over to them last night."

"Good boy," the older man said teasingly, his brown eyes twinkling. Like I usually did back then, I found myself wondering if I would look as good as he did when I reached my late fifties. Although time had lined his face, he had aged gracefully and he still garnered much attention from women who were more than half his age. I found it irritating that people still told me that he looked like my older brother rather than my father.

"Take a hike," I snarled as I picked up the telephone on my desk.

"So cold! What did I do to deserve such a mean son?" he asked out loud as he shut the door to my office once more.

I turned back to the telephone and punched in the number for my aunt's shop on Verdure Island. It rang three times before someone picked up and I heard my cousin's familiar singsong voice on the other end.

"Good Morning, this is the Verdure Island Animal Store, how can I help you?" she crooned down the phone charmingly.

"Julia, it's Vaughn. I'm not coming to the islands this week. I'm busy with work."

She sighed down the phone. "Why? What happened now?"

"I just told you. I'm busy."

She tutted. "Well, whatever. But you're expected here this weekend for the Cow Festival, so don't forget about it."

I made a noise of frustration. "You don't need me there."

"Yes we do! Do you honestly think we can handle over thirty cows by ourselves? And you know we'll be short one judge if you don't come."

"Whatever. I'll be there the night before, so book the usual room at the hotel for me."

"Fine fine. I'll see you this weekend then," she trilled before hanging up.

* * *

><p>When I turned up on the islands on the evening of Fall 4th I was greeted by my cousin and a girl I'd never met before. She was small, with short, shoulder length hair and had a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. I immediately recognised that she was a girl from the city from the way she dressed; it was far too stylishly for someone who was used to living out on these islands.<p>

"Yo," Julia said, waving shortly at me as I descended the steps of the dock. "Good trip?"

"Same as usual. Who's this?" I asked Julia as I stared down at the brunette who was looking up at me curiously.

"Oh, this is Ellie. She's one of Chelsea's friends from the mainland. She's here on vacation, but since Chelsea's always working, she's hanging around with me and Natalie for now," Julia explained. "Ellie, this is my cousin Vaughn. Chelsea's livestock dealer."

I stiffened upon hearing the little farmer's name. The memory of the incident in the library burned in my memory and my jaw tightened as I remembered the look she'd given me when I'd spotted her; pity and remorse.

"So he's the one, huh?" Ellie said slyly, eying me with interest.

I decided to ignore her and turned back to my cousin with a frown. "Did you book the room?"

"Yeah, it's all sorted with Carol. She booked 404 like always," Julia replied cheerily. "Since you're here so early, I was wondering if you'd like to come to the bar with us tonight. Pretty much everyone is coming and Ma says you ought to start socialising a bit more."

"No," I replied shortly, turning to head away. I wanted to drop into the library to see Sabrina, but unfortunately my cousin didn't want to drop the issue. Instead she followed me as I headed over the bridge to Sprout Island.

"Oh come on Vaughn. You're such a bore. Just come with us tonight, okay?" Julia whined as the two girls tailed me.

"I said no. No means no," I replied, glancing over my shoulder at her. "I have things to do."

"I hope you're not going to go to the library again," Julia suddenly said. Shocked, I stopped in my tracks and turned around fully to look at her. She met my gaze sternly. "I heard everything from Chelsea."

"It's got nothing to do with you. Don't interfere," I growled. "And tell that little friend of yours to stop eavesdropping in on people's private conversations. I don't want either of you getting involved in my matters."

"Well tough _shit_ Vaughn," Julia snapped back angrily, completely ignoring Ellie's presence. "Chelsea is Sabrina's 'friend' now, and she told her everything. She's involved whether you want her to be or not. And it's your own damned fault."

"Don't cuss at me," I snapped, my eyes darting to the brunette who looked shocked by Julia's sudden outburst. "Or do I have to drop you in some water too?"

"Go ahead! I'll just tell Ma and you won't get dinner tonight," Julia hissed.

"Goddess, you're so immature," I replied with a frustrated grumble. "So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Just stop going to the library," she said.

"I can't do that I'm afraid," I replied.

She tutted at me in that way that reminded me of her mother. "You know it's not going to turn out well if you keep encouraging her."

"Well, I'll just have to take my chances. Now butt out, Julia."

This time when I turned to leave, they didn't follow me, and I headed over to the hotel to deposit my bags. The ancient hotel was silent as I pushed open the doors that led into the air conditioned lobby, and the receptionist, Carol, smiled when she saw me. I tipped my hat at her in silent greeting. When she passed me my keys, I caught her looking at me with a funny expression and I frowned. "What?"

"Regis DeLauer's daughter was in here looking for you on Wednesday," Carol told me uncomfortably. "She accused me of lying when I told her that you weren't here. She thought you were avoiding her."

I fought the urge to sigh and instead stared down at the key in my hand. The worn-out golden key ring was engraved with '404' in a fancy font that was slightly faded from constant use. I brushed my thumb over the number as I asked, "Does she know I'm here now? Did you tell her?"

"Of course not," Carol replied hurriedly. "Should I continue to deny that you're here, then?"

I nodded before heading up to my room. After letting myself into my usual room, I dumped my bag on the beech wood table and sat on the edge of the bed to process what I'd just heard. Things were getting too complicated too quickly and I began to wonder if maybe Julia was right. Maybe I shouldn't be encouraging Sabrina by visiting her. Staring across at the mirror that hung opposite from me, I decided to heed Julia's advice for once. I wouldn't go to the library after all.


	17. Flight Zone

**Note from the Author: **Urgh, the last part of this chapter was REALLY hard to write, since I have no idea about herding cows etc. But I tried! Sorry if it sounds kinda lame or anything!

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><p><strong>Chapter Seventeen<strong>

_Flight Zone_

After Natalie and Elliot's party, I was very busy with the preparations for Fall. I had to hurriedly harvest the last remnants of my crops, get them shipped, and fertilise the soil in preparation for planting the next season's seeds. I spent the next few days so immersed in my work on the farm that Ellie had started staying over at Julia's place. I felt quite selfish for not being able to pay my friend more attention, but she didn't begrudge me for it. She understood the amount of work that went into running a farm single-handedly and even offered to help me numerous times; though I politely rejected her each time. Although I had accepted Julia and Natalie's help in the beginning, I was determined to do the rest for myself. I somehow began to think that if I let people help me out then I wouldn't be able to truly face up to Mark when I eventually saw him again.

Of course, Mark was only one of the many things that played on my mind at that time. In fact, he was more an afterthought than anything else. I spent most of my time thinking in circles about two people in particular: Denny and Sabrina. Denny was a like a rubik's cube that I was only half way through solving while Sabrina was the forlorn princess that I wanted to help. In spite of being wary of him, Denny's behaviour at Natalie and Elliot's party had left me confused and I found myself wondering about what he was _really_ like. It was pretty obvious to me that his nice-guy persona was just a front, and I was convinced that Denny _had_ tripped Pierre up that night, but I couldn't figure out why. As for Sabrina, well, I thought her whole situation with Vaughn was too tragic. Julia's warnings had done little to dampen my pity for her.

When the Cow Festival arrived on the 5th of Fall, I was barely ready to head over to the island when Natalie turned up on the farm with Ellie to pick me up. My hands were still dirty from sprinkling the organic fertiliser over my fields and my hair was a tangled mess as they ushered me over to the Verdure docks and onto the ferry. I wasn't really in the mood to go to a festival, since I still had several things to do around the farm, but I had been steadfastly going to all of them since I had arrived on the islands. Heeding Taro's advice, I had gone to every single festival that was marked on the calendar he gave me, and he had been right in telling me to do so. Not only did it familiarise me with the festival regulars, but it also taught me how the festivals worked and what the various judging criteria for the competitions were; essential things that I would need to know for the following year.

As I sat next to Ellie and Natalie on the ferry over towards the island, Ellie turned to the redhead and asked, "Why are there so many boats? Do _that_ many people come to the islands for these festivals or whatever?"

Natalie chuckled. "It's because of the location," she explained knowledgeably. "There are very few communities like ours that are out on remote islands that have beaches all over the place. Many farmers make a holiday out of coming here; that's how Carol's hotel still survives despite how remote we are. A lot of the contestants who compete in the festivals take a couple of days off from work and stay here. Look! Over there! See over on the beach? Some people are sunbathing already." She pointed over to the small beach just off from the dock where, true enough, a couple of visitors had set out beach towels and were basking in the sun already.

When we disembarked from the ferry, Ellie's eyes widened when she caught sight of the large pockets of people that were scattered all over the field. She had not anticipated for the festivals to be so popular and her mouth was agape as we wandered through the crowds. We were heading over towards the judging tables where we had spotted Julia milling around excitedly.

Not surprisingly, most of the farming visitors that came to the festivals were guys, and the few female farmers we saw were pretty butch looking. While I paid little attention to the other farmers most of the time, there was this one female farmer who really made a distinct impression on me. Her name was Vesta and she had a really hearty laugh that reminded me of my mom. I was introduced to her by Taro during the Chicken Festival back in spring and I knew then that the introduction was meant to inspire me. And boy, was I inspired. Vesta told me about her farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley and how she ran it with her younger brother and his wife. She said that they had started out as a small farm but after a couple of years they had expanded and became a contracted supplier for a major supermarket chain, which obviously brought in a substantial amount of profit.

After literally bumping into her on our way over to Julia, Vesta greeted me warmly and pulled me into a bear-hug before pulling back and taking a proper look at me. She had taken a particular interest in me after our first conversation back in Spring, and always took the time to see how I was doing whenever she came to the islands for the festivals. Each time I saw her she treated me as if I was a relative she hadn't seen in a long time and even to this day I'm not sure what she saw in me that caused her to like me so much.

"My my my, you look like you've been busy today!" Vesta commented as she saw the state of my clothes and my hair. "Got this season's seeds planted yet?"

"I was busy fertilising," I said, holding my hands up and showing her the mucky state of them. "I was tempted to give the festival a miss today because of it. There's just way too much for me to do."

"Well, I'm glad you came, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to see my prized cow, Millie," Vesta said, gesturing over to the large cow pen that had been set up. My eyes glided over towards the pen and I felt my heart skip a beat at the sight that awaited me.

Instead of being fixated on Vesta's beloved cow, which was calmly tethered at the fence nearest to us, my eyes rested upon the wonderful sight of a certain cowboy sat astride a chestnut mare. I could feel my cheeks growing warm as I gazed over at Vaughn, admiring his proud posture and the natural way he sat in his saddle. It was obvious from the way he handled his steed that he was used to riding horses and I felt my heart flutter when he turned his head just a fraction to look over in my direction. My face felt like it was burning when I looked away and looked back up Vesta with a forced smile, which she returned knowingly after seeing the expression on my face.

"Cute," I said awkwardly.

"That's not exactly the way I would describe him, but he _can_ have his moments," Vesta said with amusement, glancing back over at Vaughn.

"I think I just came," I heard Ellie whisper from beside me as she stared up at Vaughn with an enamoured expression. "I swear... that guy exudes sex from every pore."

"Yuh," Natalie replied, also looking up at him with an enchanted look. "It's a shame he's such a jerk."

"A-Anyway!" I exclaimed, trying to get the subject back on track. "I'll be cheering for you today!" I told Vesta cheerily.

"Good to hear it. Though I hope we'll be competitors soon. I want to see the fruits of your labour," Vesta said, her eyes twinkling as she glanced at my friends who were continuing to stare up at Vaughn. "I'll leave you girls to it. I've got something I need to speak to ol' Taro about."

After the older woman left, Ellie turned to me and said, "I met Vaughn yesterday, you know."

Natalie and I turned to her in surprise. "When?"

"Julia took me over to the dock to greet him. He was a bit rude, I must admit. But it seems to add to his charm."

"You're kidding me right?" I asked, my face deadpanning. "Charm? Are we talking about the same guy here? He is not charming. He's a git."

"Yes, he's a git, but he's smouldering hot git. So hot that _you_ blush at the mere sight of him," Natalie said, nudging me.

I ignored them, rolling my eyes and continuing over towards the judging tables with the two of them following close behind. They continued to extol the cowboy's virtues to me quite graphically as we weaved through the crowds. His broad back. His gorgeous amethyst coloured eyes. His towering height. Even the way he glares. They continued to harp on to me about how good looking he was until we finally reached Julia and saw her practically slumped over a table in exhaustion. Her long blonde hair lay splayed out around her while she rested her head on her arms and groaned tiredly at the sight of us.

"Are you alright?" I asked her as Natalie ruffled her hair.

"I've been up since six. How on earth can I be alright?" she groaned back, glancing at me from under her mess of blonde hair.

"You forget that I wake up at that time every day," I replied with a wry smile.

"That's why I'm starting to think you're not completely human," the blonde said, straightening up and running her hand through her hair to tidy it. "I honestly don't know how you do it."

I was about to reply confirming my superhuman status when Ellie's phone going off startled me. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked it before scowling and silencing the ring. She had been ignoring Trent's calls and texts for days, refusing to speak to him unless it was in person; all as part of her plan to make him come to the islands to get her. However, it was becoming fast apparent that her plan had backfired. Ellie had been on the islands for almost two weeks and yet Trent still hadn't come to get her. Each time he tried to call her she grew angrier with him.

"Maybe you should just answer it next time," I suggested as she pocketed her phone once more and turned back to us sullenly.

"No," she replied. "If he wants to speak to me, he has to come here."

"You can't stay here forever though," Natalie pointed out. "Chelsea's always busy working, and don't you have to go home to pick up your exam results? What about your parents? Aren't they worried?"

"Probably not," Ellie replied, running a hand through her short hair. "And I think I might just not go home. What's the point? There's nothing waiting for me there."

"You want to stay here?" Julia asked excitedly. "I know that there's a house for rent in town that's just absolutely adorable! Oh you should stay here Ellie!"

"I'm not sure," Ellie replied, rubbing her neck and glancing at me. I was reminded of her previous comments about how she found the community of the Sunshine Islands a little suffocating and I fought the urge to grimace.

"If you don't stay here, where would you go?" Natalie asked.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Maybe I'll go to Castanet and see my relatives there. My Auntie Yolanda's been offering to let me live with her for a while now, since she knows my parents aren't really around anymore and she's worried about me being on my own."

"He'll come," I told Ellie, putting my hand on her arm reassuringly. "Trent will come for you. I know him. He'll come."

Ellie nodded, remaining silent as Mirabelle bustled over to us and told Julia to get on with her work. I linked arms with her, giving her a little nudge but she simply smiled weakly back at me. The smile didn't reach her eyes and I felt a tug at my heartstrings. I felt so guilty for not being able to comfort her more, but what more could I do? I didn't want to force other guys on her in hopes of helping her forget about Trent. Nor did I want to ring up Trent and force him to come and apologise to her. What could I do?

As Natalie headed over to the buffet table with Ellie to see Pierre, I turned around and spotted Mirabelle glancing over towards Vaughn worriedly. I followed the older woman's gaze and saw that there was a bit of a pile up at the entrance to the cow pen; Vaughn was struggling to keep up with all the new entries and he was scowling quite scarily as each farmer gave him yet another cow to handle. I don't really know what possessed me to do so, but upon seeing this I turned around to Mirabelle and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help? He seems to be struggling."

"Y-Yes, I think he might need a little help, but I worry about whether you'd be able to handle it. Some of those cows get pretty vicious since quite a number of them become seasick from the journey. But let's go and ask Vaughn, shall we?" she said unsurely, before leading me over towards the edge of the pen.

Seeing Mirabelle approaching, Vaughn quickly finished tethering up a cow before spurring his horse towards us, glaring at me as he approached. When he reached us he took his hat off and grumpily ran his hand through his hair. It was damp from sweat and he looked a little flushed; which didn't surprise me considering the fact that the man was wearing all black even though it was blazing hot out. I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably as Mirabelle explained to him that I wanted to help.

"No. I work alone," he said rudely, looking down at me impetuously.

"But it's too much for you to do by yourself. You'll take forever. We really could use an extra pair of hands," Mirabelle reasoned, frowning up at him. She turned her sky blue eyes back to me with a small smile as she asked, "So how about it?"

"If I can help in any way, then I'll try my best," I replied casually, trying to appear a lot more relaxed than I felt.

Mirabelle grinned broadly before turning to Vaughn and saying, "Well Vaughn? You heard her."

Replacing his hat back on his head, he let out a sigh of exasperation before saying, "Just don't get in my way, okay? Just accept the cows from the farmers and lead them over to the fence on the other side and tether them. And for Goddess' sakes, be careful."

I nodded and clambered over the fence into the pen as he galloped off ahead of me to accept another two entries. I was left on foot since I didn't have a horse and I carefully wandered around the edge of the pen, warily eying the cows on the other side. I wasn't completely stupid; I know how dangerous livestock can be if they're excited or upset. Heck, even my own cows had tried kicking me once or twice when I squeezed too hard whilst milking them. When I reached the gate to the pen, a burly farmer wordlessly handed me the rope that was tied around his cow's neck before stalking off. Thankfully, his cow was quite tame and came along quite easily.

I was able to repeat this rather simple process before I was finally given command of a particularly stubborn cow. No matter how hard I tugged on the rope, it just wouldn't come and I actually started becoming quite irritated with it as it just stared back at me dumbly. "Come on, just move. Please?" I pleaded with it. But of course, talking to it didn't work and it just stared back at me stupidly. I tried going behind the cow and pushing it, but instead of moving forward it veered off to the side in its effort to get away from me. I let out a growl of frustration and ran after the cow as it began to trot away from me, pulling me along by the rope I was desperately trying to keep hold of. "Hey! Stop!" I called in my panic as it continued to trot away at an accelerating speed.

"What are you doing?" Vaughn bellowed, galloping over on his horse angrily and causing the wayward cow to moo balefully. "Do you have _no_ idea how to herd livestock? What have you been doing with my two cows all this time?"

"My cows aren't as stubborn as this one is!" I snapped back. "I'm trying my best, but-"

He cut me off. "Shut up and listen to me for a minute," he snapped sternly. "While most of these cows are fully domesticated, some of them aren't and will be stubborn, so you'll have to herd them over. Bovine animals move in a circular direction and have what is called a flight zone. A flight zone is the maximum distance that an animal is comfortable maintaining in your presence. If you step in that zone then it will move away from you. If you're having problems getting stubborn animals to move, you need to apply pressure on it to get it to move. Usually it's around the shoulder. Tsk, I can't explain it properly like this. Get back and watch me."

I did as I was told and fell back so that I could watch him. Manoeuvring his horse expertly, Vaughn herded the animal back towards the centre, snatching up the loose rope that I had dropped as he rode alongside it. I watched with fascination as he applied 'pressure' to the animal around its shoulder until it was finally with the other animals, hanging back and slowing completely to a stop as it reached his desired destination. He managed to tie it up with the other cows before trotting back over to the gate and carrying on with what he had been doing before. He did this with such practised ease that I felt a little intimidated. I mean, sure, he was doing it on a horse and it obviously made things a lot easier, but I could imagine that Vaughn would be able to do it just as easily if he was on foot like I was.

I approached the gate once more and carried on leading the animals over. Many of the cows were actually very tame, having clearly been domesticated properly by their owners, but when the stubborn ones refused to budge I put the advice Vaughn had given me to use. I walked up to them from behind and got closer to them then they found comfortable, causing them to move away from me. If they started going in the wrong direction I would walk around the other side and exert pressure there to change it. Doing this, I was able to usher a few cows over and as I tethered up one of the last remaining ones I thought I saw Vaughn smiling. Of course, I probably imagined it since he was back to frowning when I turned to get a proper look at him.

With only two more cows remaining, I accepted the second to last cow from a rather young looking farmer and began trying to lead it across the pen. However, the cow didn't move. Instead, it blew air out of its nostrils angrily and shook its head violently. Wary of its bad mood, I slowly circled the cow and came up to it from behind so that I could start herding it over like I had been doing before. This cow, however, didn't seem to like this very much and instead rounded on me so that it was facing me. I felt a chill run up my spine as I realised that this cow seemed to be contemplating whether to ram me or not.

"Chelsea!" I heard Vaughn called across the field to me as the cow stamped its foot angrily, getting ready to charge at me. "Chelsea! Get away from it! Now!"

Even though Vaughn was yelling at me to get away, I knew that it would be relatively futile to do so. This animal was bigger and faster than me and I knew I had no chance of escaping unscathed. I suppose I should have at least tried to run, but I didn't. I didn't see the point. Instead, I scowled at the cow and muttered under my breath, "Come on you bitch. If you're really gonna ram me, just fucking do it already."

The cow called my bluff.


	18. Guilt

**Note from the Author: **Hey again! Here's the next chapter. It's another Vaughn POV chapter since he's going to start playing a more active role in the storyline from here on out. This was a little easier for me to write than the previous Vaughn chapter but it's still quite short so I apologise in advance if you were expecting to read more. I'm not really used to writing as a guy so I'm sorry if he seems a little off. As always thanks for the reviews so far and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

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><p><strong>Chapter Eighteen<strong>

_Guilt_

I hate hospitals. Everything about them unsettles me. The smell of disinfectant, the whirr of life support machines. Everything is too clean, clinical. I understand the medical reasons for it, but I hate it. A building that's meant to be the bastion for extending life shouldn't be so soulless.

Sat in the corridor of the hospital on the mainland that we'd taken Chelsea to, I glanced across at the young woman that was sat across from me. Her short brown hair was a tangled mess and her eyes are shadowed from lack of sleep. Chelsea's friend from simpler days. I was once again reminded of the fact that the little farmer was not always a farmer, but an ordinary girl. Guilt and shame rocked through me as I once again found myself questioning why I had allowed her to help me with the cows at the festival. Angry with myself, I hung my head in my hands and stared at the floor as I asked myself the same question over and over and over. Yes, she'd handle a couple of cows before; but they were already fully domesticated and tamed. I should have known better than to allow her to handle potentially untamed animals.

My attention was drawn from my inward anger by the sound of footsteps echoing up the hall. Looking up in the direction they were coming from, I found myself staring up at a smartly dressed man of around my age who was looking at our waiting group with a worried expression. For a moment I thought that this was the ex-boyfriend that Chelsea had made the bet with. He had a thick head of messy black hair and when his eyes settled on me his expression darkened with anger. It was clear from the way he looked at me that he blamed me for Chelsea's condition.

Without introduction or preamble, the man grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me upwards angrily, putting his face close to mine as he said, "You're the livestock dealer aren't you? What the hell were you thinking? Letting a young woman like her handle wild animals like that! You're meant to be professional."

Trying my best to remain calm, I took hold of the hand that had grabbed my shirt and firmly extracted it. "I know it's my fault. I take full responsibility for it. I should have known better."

The man's eyes narrowed and he took a step back before glancing around to stare at Chelsea's friend. She stared up at him with wide misted eyes, seemingly stunned by his sudden appearance, before she launched herself upwards and wrapped her arms around him. He embraced her tightly as she began sobbing into his shirt, whispering encouragement into her ear as he stroked her hair gently. For some reason I felt a little relieved to see this. Clearly this was not Chelsea's boyfriend, but the boyfriend of the friend.

"Who are you?" I asked him quietly as I took my seat once more.

"Trent. One of Chelsea's friends," he replied, his eyes remaining narrowed as he looked at me.

"Where's Chelsea's boyfriend?" I asked again, folding my arms across my chest. "I would have thought he'd come flying over here after hearing that his girlfriend's injured."

"In case she hasn't told you, Chelsea doesn't _have_ a boyfriend. And Mark won't be coming," Trent stated stiffly. "You're probably just waiting out of guilt to find out if she's okay, aren't you?"

I considered this for a minute. Was I? Was I just waiting to find out that she was okay so I could alleviate my own guilt? _No_, I thought to myself, shaking my head. I was not there just to hear it. I wanted to see it for myself. I wanted to apologise to her.

"I have something to talk to her about," I finally replied, looking back down at the floor.

Trent remained silent for a moment, his girlfriend still sobbing quietly into his shirt, before he finally said, "Well, you won't have to wait much longer. Chelsea will be fine. She fractured the ulna in her left arm and will have to wear a plaster cast for a few weeks, but it was a closed fracture so it'll be fine once it's healed up. Her doctor commends you on getting her here so quickly."

I frowned thoughtfully as I asked, "Are you a doctor?"

"Working towards it," he replied grimly, his fingers tangling in the woman's hair gently. "If you want to go in and see Chelsea, you can. She's awake now."

I felt a lump appear in my throat at his words. Nerves shook me at the prospect of having to face her. Looking away from Trent, I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably as I tried to psych myself up for it. How was I meant to start? Would she reject my apology? It wouldn't have surprised me, considering how I'd been treating her. Sighing irritably, I rose from my seat and took off my Stetson as I headed up the corridor towards Chelsea's room. The sound of my footsteps on the linoleum floor echoed around me and I felt myself growing more anxious with each step I took.

Reaching her door, I knocked three times before entering. The room was brightly lit and Chelsea sat upright in the hospital bed with a look of glee on her face as she watched the television that was perched up in the top corner of the room. There was a blue plaster cast on her left arm and I could see a hoof-shaped bruise on her right. There was no look of disdain or anger on her face when her eyes fell on me; only surprise. I felt myself relax slowly as I took a seat next to her bed, my nervousness forgotten and replaced with relief.

"Why are you here?" was her first question to me once I'd sat down. Her blue eyes stared at me questioningly as I placed my hat on the empty table next to her.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright," I told her, lacing my fingers together and resting my elbows on my knees.

"I'm sure Trent probably told you already," she stated, tilting her head to the side as she considered me. "You didn't need to come and see me. I know you're probably still mad at me."

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" I asked her dumbly.

"The library," she replied, looking away guiltily. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping on you the way I did. I hadn't meant to, honestly."

I stared at her in disbelief. Why was _she_ apologising to _me_? The whole reason I had come to see her was so that _I _could be the one to apologise to _her_. Not hear her apology to me about something so insignificant. "Idiot," I said before I could stop myself.

She flinched. "I _said_ I'm sorry."

"No. You're an idiot for worrying about something so small," I told her moodily. "I should be the one apologising to you. Not the other way round. I put you in a life threatening situation and I should have known better. I'm sorry."

Blinking at me, she took a few seconds to digest this before she giggled. She actually _giggled_ at me. Both relief and anger at her light-heartedness swelled up inside me at this and I was about to tell her off for her reaction but she beat me to it. "It wasn't your fault Vaughn. I should have run like you'd told me to. But I mean, I was doing fine up until that guy gave me that one cow. I'm sorry for worrying you so much that you felt you had to stay, but please don't apologise to me for something that wasn't your fault."

Frustrated by her dismissive attitude, I snapped, "It _was_ my fault! I shouldn't have put you into that situation in the first place. I knew that some of those cows weren't fully domesticated, and yet I still let you help. I am entirely at fault and you could have been seriously injured because of my poor judgement. You don't seem to appreciate the gravity of the situation, do you?"

"But I'm fine," she replied, her voice losing its cheeriness. I felt a little more comfortable upon hearing the surliness that I was so used to. I preferred dealing with her bad attitude.

"Yeah, you were lucky," I replied sternly.

Chelsea sighed and leant back into her pillows as she turned her eyes up to the ceiling. "Even so, please don't apologise to me. It wasn't your fault."

My eyes stayed fixed on her as she looked up at the ceiling tiredly. Fortunately her face hadn't been injured except for a small bruise near her hairline and she still looked as pretty as a picture in spite of the hospital surroundings. As always I wasn't sure what to make of her. At first she had seemed just like any other normal girl, fragile and easily upset. However I'd grown to recognise that she wasn't; she was hardier, more driven. Although her reasons for starting up the farm were questionable, I couldn't fault her for the hard work she'd put into it, and I'd seen over the few weeks that I'd known her that she was passionate about succeeding. In spite of the grief I'd given her about trusting her with livestock, she cared for the animals beautifully and I found myself begrudgingly respecting her.

I was admiring the clear blueness of her eyes when they suddenly turned to me and caught me staring. They widened a fraction before a smile crept to her lips and she reached across to the bedside table. Picking up my hat, she placed it on her head as she said, "If you want to make it up to me, you could always help me out on my farm until my arm's all better. Only if you want to, that is."

I hesitated for only a moment before nodding, "Sure. If you want me to."

"And I want this hat," she added cheekily, fiddling with the brim of it in the same way I often did.

I fought back a smile and said, "I'll let you borrow it, for now."


	19. Resolve

**Note from the Author: **Thanks so much for the nice reviews from the previous chapter! I'm glad I did enough job of Vaughn's POV, but now the pressure is totally on to keep it up! Anyways, here's the next chapter. I really really struggled to write this. I think I rewrote this chapter like... four or five times because I just wasn't happy with it. I'm still not really happy with it now, but I wanted to post it up just so I wouldn't keep chopping it up and changing it.

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><p><strong>Chapter Nineteen<strong>

_Resolve_

When I asked Vaughn if I could have his hat I hadn't expected him to smile like that. But he did. It was a half smile, one that he struggled to hide, but it was a smile nonetheless. And it was beautiful. Honest, open and totally gorgeous; if I had to pin point the moment where I'd begun to start falling for him, _that_ would probably be it. Though I didn't know it at the time.

I was still wearing the hat when Ellie came in to visit me once Vaughn had got up to leave. Saying he needed to make some phone calls so he could take the necessary time off to help me, he left the room just as Ellie barged in. She practically shunted him out of the way as they past one another. Her face was tear-stained and her hair was a fly-away mess, just like that day she'd arrived on the islands after her break-up with Trent, and I cringed inwardly over the fact that I was the cause this time around. She wasted no time in piling into me, wrapping her arms around me in an uncomfortable grip as Trent followed her in with an unimpressed frown at the sight of the hat on my head.

"Ellie, you know you're probably hurting her, right?" he told her moodily.

Ignoring him, she clung to me as she mumbled. "You idiot Chelsea. You had us so worried. I was so scared that you were going to die."

Overreaction much? "It was just a cow, Ellie."

"Even so. You really had us worried," Trent said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall as he stared at the pair of us. "Your parents are worried to death too. They were threatening to come down here, but I told them there isn't any point since you're getting discharged today."

"Oh goddess, why did you tell them?" I grumbled.

Ellie pulled away from me. She had that look on her face that makes me think that she sees herself as my second mother rather than my friend. "Don't ever scare us like that again Chelsea! I turned my back for one moment and then next thing I know you're getting carried off to the hospital. Everyone was worried sick. Julia couldn't stop crying."

"Nor could you," Trent pointed out.

She shot him a scathing look over her shoulder. "Don't remind me. My eyes feel like balls of sand right now."

Seeing the two of them griping at each other so casually made me giggle. "I'm guessing the two of you are back together then?"

"Hey, we're talking about _you_ here. Don't try to change the subject!" Ellie exclaimed, flicking my nose irritably.

"But I'm fine, see?" I gestured to my plaster-casted arm grandly.

"You broke your arm, Chelsea. That's _not_ fine. How are you meant to work on your farm now?" she asked me, taking a seat in the chair that Vaughn had been sitting in only moments before.

Pushing up the hat with one finger, I raised my chin up proudly as I said, "I asked Vaughn to help me out until my arm is all better. And he said yes."

Ellie sat in stunned silence for a few seconds before her face lit up with delight. "You're getting _the hunk_ to help you out?" she exclaimed excitedly, her voice far louder than I was comfortable with. I saw Trent rolling his eyes before slapping his hand against his forehead in exasperation. I think he might have muttered something along the lines of 'she never changes', but I'm not too sure.

Embarrassed by her outburst and worrying that Vaughn would hear, I put a finger to my lips to silence her. "Goddess Ellie, keep your voice down! You don't want him to hear you, do you?"

"Is that why you're wearing his hat?" she asked me slyly, sitting on the edge of her seat. "Can I stay at yours a bit longer so I can watch him work around your farm? Pretty please?"

Both mine and Trent's expression deadpanned.

"I was just joking," she quickly said with a sulk.

"Speaking of which, did you two sort your differences out yet?" I asked them, resting back into my pillows and folding my good arm across my chest. As much as I loved having Ellie around, I was getting a bit antsy with having her stay with me for so long. I had grown quite fond of living alone and having Ellie leave her stuff all over my house was growing a little irritating. I had been sympathetically putting up with because of the break up, but now that things between her and Trent seemed to have settled somewhat she had no more excuse.

Ellie nibbled her lip and Trent looked away with a blush. I let out a frustrated sigh. "I bet you two haven't had the chance to talk properly yet, have you?"

"Che-Chelsea this isn't really the best place to be having _that_ conv-" Ellie began, but the look I shot her silenced her. Turning away shyly, she fidgeted with her hands as Trent cleared his throat nervously. They were like a couple of teenagers and it was beginning to annoy me.

"Do you want me to leave?" I asked them, starting to get up so I could leave the room.

"No!" Ellie exclaimed, pushing me back down. "I-It's just..." she glanced over her shoulder at Trent. He stared back at her thoughtfully, his hand fiddling with something in his pocket.

"Look, it's so effing obvious that you two are still in love with each other. Just get it over with already. It's not like I haven't seen you two argue before," I said.

Something in the air around Trent seemed to shift after he heard my words. Running a hand through his hair, Trent looked down at both me and Ellie unsurely before he let out a tired sigh. Grabbing her hand, he forced Ellie to turn towards him as he suddenly bent down on one knee in front of her. That's when he pulled out a black velvet box from his pocket. I let out a gasp of amazement as he snapped the box open to reveal a large diamond beautifully set into a band of silver. I have never seen a rock that big on an engagement ring before; it was big enough to pay off the national debt. I knew that Trent came from money, much like Ellie did, but I had no idea about the amount of cheddar he had at his disposal until I saw that ring.

"I wanted to do this later," he began shakily. "But since Chelsea was so insistent that we get back together right now, I figured that this was as good a time as any."

"Trent..." Ellie began, her eyes bugging out in surprise, but he shook his head and silenced her.

"Please, just let me finished," he said. Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed it once before looking up at her and saying, "I love you, Ellie... So much. I'm sorry I got mad at you before. I'm sorry I hurt you. It's just that when I came home and found you asleep on the sofa with that bottle on the table... I was so scared that you had overdosed. I was terrified for you." He paused, swallowing nervously as he continued to stare up into her eyes which were brimming with tears again. "After you left I felt hollow. I hated myself for kicking you out and I wanted you to forgive me and come back to me. Being apart from you made me realise that I needed you in my life."

Unable to contain herself anymore, Ellie finally snapped. "Then why didn't you come? I was waiting for you! I was waiting for you to come and get me! I was with Chelsea for over _two weeks_! And you _knew_ where I was this whole time!"

"How could I come and get you after the way I treated you?" he argued back, his grip on her hand tightening. "The way I kicked you out of my apartment... I was ashamed of myself and I thought you wouldn't want to speak to me again! Every time I tried to ring you, you hung up or turned your phone off. All my text messages, emails and phone calls went unanswered. How could I just show up on Chelsea's doorstep when I wasn't sure if you even wanted to see me again?"

"Chicken shit," Ellie said, wiping her tears away from her eyes. "Of course I wanted to see you again. I was avoiding your calls _because_ I wanted to see you again. I was expecting you to come and see me. I thought that by avoiding your calls you would be forced to come and see me face to face."

Trent shook his head with a wry smile. "I'm sorry I hurt you, El. I love you more than you know. I realise that you probably took those pills because I wasn't around and I'm sorry that you were lonely because of me. That's why I want you to marry me. No... not want. Need. I _need_ you to marry me. I need you to know that I love you and that I'm always thinking about you. Th-that's why I decided to take my internship at the clinic in Mineral Town rather than doing it in the city."

I wasn't exactly sure what this meant to begin with but judging from Ellie's response it was a good thing. Flinging her arms around his neck, Ellie catapulted herself towrds him and in spite of his surprise he caught her, falling back onto the floor as she began smothering his face with kisses. I felt like I was experiencing déjà vu for a moment; having seen Natalie and Pierre make up and make out on the floor only a week or so before.

I had to clear my throat loudly to remind them that I was still in the room and they slowly pulled away from one another, their cheeks flushed and their hands entwined. I felt a tug at my heart strings when I saw the look of total bliss on my best friend's face. Ellie looked so happy that I couldn't help smiling along with her. Although I wasn't glad that my arm was broken, I was happy that at least one good thing had come out of the situation. My misfortunes had thrown Trent and Ellie back together again; now, not only were they back together, but they were engaged to be married.

Although I was excited and happy for the both of them, I can't deny that seeing them so contentedly together again left me feeling a little disgruntled. It probably makes me a bad person but I must confess that I was jealous of them back then. I couldn't fight back the memories of all the times that Mark had promised me that _we_ would get married in the future. One particular memory came to mind as I sat in the waiting room with Ellie while Trent sorted out the necessary paperwork for my discharge.

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><p><em>It had been the summer before the start of university. Both our families had gone on holiday at the same time and so Mark and I were both home alone. Needless to say, we slept over at each other's houses during that period and I was awoken one morning by Mark kissing me gently on the forehead. It was a gentle, fleeting kiss that caused me to look up at him questioningly.<em>

"_What is it?" I asked him, snuggling up to him like a cat._

"_I love you," he told me, stroking my arm absent-mindedly. _

_A lock of his blonde hair had fallen into his eye in that boyishly charming way it usually did and I brushed it aside. "I know you do."_

"_I want to marry you," he added._

_I froze in shock. His words hit me like a truck. As I stared back into the beautiful green of his eyes I found that I was utterly speechless in the face of his confession. Surprise, happiness and confusion ripped through me like a tornado. I was surprised that he wanted to _marry_ me, happy that he'd told me, but confused about the fact that he was looking so far into the future. I hadn't even been thinking about marriage at that point._

"_After we graduate from uni, I want to marry you," he repeated, running a hand through my hair as I gaped at him. The feel of his hand in my hair sent a pleasant shiver through me._

"_Are you sure?" I asked him with wide eyes, even though I already knew what he'd say._

"_Of course," he replied. "Why, don't you want to?"_

"_I do," I mumbled shyly._

"_Hey, save that 'I do' for when we're up at the altar," he told me teasingly, kissing me on the nose._

"_I-I'm just a little puzzled," I told him as I turned around in his arm and looked up at the ceiling._

"_By?"_

"_Why you're saying this so suddenly."_

_He let out a thoughtful hum before saying, "I just don't see myself marrying someone else. Do you?"_

_I shook my head, grinning to myself happily at the prospect of getting married to him. I was so excited by the idea that it didn't occur to me to question his attitude towards the whole thing. He just didn't see himself marrying anyone else? Wasn't that just because he hadn't __**been**__ with anyone else except me?_

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><p>I was brought out of my memories when I felt someone give my right arm a gentle squeeze. Looking up, I found myself staring into the violet depths of Vaughn's eyes. He was looking at me with such concern and he was standing so close to me that I felt myself blush. "What's wrong?"<p>

"Huh?" I asked him dumbly. I blinked once and a tear slid down my cheek; I was crying. Laughing at myself for being so silly, I quickly wiped my tears away with the back of my hand. "Oh, sorry."

"Why are you apologising?" he asked with frown as he began guiding me out of the reception.

I noticed that Ellie and Trent had gone outside to wait for the cab they'd ordered and I was relieved that it was Vaughn who had caught me crying and not them. I didn't want to put a dampener on their happy day. I hated myself for getting upset over the fact that I wasn't getting my happy ending like they were.

I shrugged and said, "My arm just hurts, that's all."

"I know you're on painkillers; I spoke to your doctor earlier. You shouldn't be in any pain right now," Vaughn told me pointedly, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. It was a little unnerving that not only had he caught out my lie, but that he'd actually spoken to my doctor about my condition. Why was he checking up on me like that? What was he? My parent?

"Ah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. But one question, why are you coming with us? Don't you have to go home first?" I asked him, desperate to change the subject.

"No. I've got some of my stuff at Mirabelle's place, so it's fine," he replied.

"Sorry to be inconveniencing you. I feel guilty now," I said as we passed through the automatic sliding doors of the hospital together.

"Don't. This is the least I could do," he replied grimly, reaching up to play with his hat before realising that it wasn't there. Realising how silly he looked, he ran a hand through his hair and glanced down at me in annoyance.

Feeling a little better, I smirked up at him as we stood next to Ellie and Trent, waiting for the cab to arrive. The absence of the previous animosity between us left me feeling a little weird. It was pretty obvious that the pair of us hadn't really liked one another before the incident at the festival, but it seemed that getting rammed by a cow was all that was needed to change his opinion of me. As for my own opinion of him? Well... it was hard to stay mad at him after seeing him smile the way he did back in my hospital room.

After the cab arrived, we headed over to the dock and got on the ferry back over to the islands. The four of us were silent for most of the journey. I could tell from Trent's expression and Vaughn's nonchalance that the two men didn't seem to like each other very much. It reminded me of how things used to be between Trent and Mark before the break up; cold indifference. I caught Ellie glancing between the two of them with a frown and I shot her a questioning look, but she only rolled her eyes in response before turning to look out at the sea.

When we arrived back at Verdure, Natalie and Julia practically pounced on me when they spotted me coming off the boat. I was caught up in a tangled mess of arms as they smothered me and chided me for my reckless behaviour. Trent and Ellie just hung back sheepishly as they watched the three of us, whilst Vaughn wordlessly headed off to Mirabelle's place. After they were finally satisfied that they had strangled me enough with their affection, my friends pulled away and caught sight of Trent standing next to Ellie. And they also caught sight of the huge rock on Ellie's finger.

"Oh my god! You got _engaged_!" Natalie practically shrieked, rushing forward and grabbing Ellie's hand so she could get a look at it.

"Your new fiancé's hot," Julia said, eying him up with a grin that wasn't entirely proper. It didn't take a mind reader to tell what sort of impure thoughts Julia was thinking as she checked Trent out.

I pinched her nose. "Oi, eyes off. You have Elliot."

Trent looked a little intimidated by the two girls and he shyly smiled back at Julia whilst rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Trent."

"Oh, we know who _you_ are," Natalie interrupted, looking up at him with a frown as she paused midway through gushing about the engagement ring. "You better treat Ellie right after all the shit you put her through. The only reason I'm not socking you in the jaw right now is because you put that huge _thing_ on her finger." She lifted Ellie's left hand and waved it for emphasis, the diamond in the ring glinting in the dying sunlight and nearly blinding me.

"The two of them had their wires crossed the whole time," I told them. "Ellie was hoping that by ignoring Trent's calls it would force him to come here. In the end, it had the opposite effect. He thought she didn't want to speak to him again."

"Oh it's so romantic!" Julia breathed dreamily. "You're going to invite us to the wedding, right? When is it? Soon? Oh it's so exciting!"

Again I was hit with that jealous loneliness as I watched my friends gush over the engagement animatedly. Cradling my broken arm, I turned to look across the islands and took a deep breath as I tried to steady my thoughts. I had come to the islands for a reason. Why did I keep losing sight of that? Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I frowned when I saw that the cover had cracked during the cow attack and flipped it open moodily as Julia began squealing about something. I brought up the picture of Mark that had become my daily motivator and stared hard at it. Bitterness filled me as I remembered all the sweet nothings that he'd whispered in my ear about us being together forever. Forever, my ass.


	20. Territory

**Note from the Author: **Hello! Here's another chapter! Another Vaughn POV one. Again, seriously difficult to write. I wanted to get this up as quickly as possible since I was a bit disappointed with chapter nineteen. Anyway, here's chapter twenty (omg, I can't believe I reached 20 already!). Hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty<strong>

_Territory_

When I got to Chelsea's farm at 6:30am the following morning I was shocked to see that not only was she awake, she was working. Stood in the middle of her field with her hair tied back into a red bandana, she held a bag of seeds on her bad arm whilst spreading them with the other. She was frowning with concentration as she shuffled along and sprinkled them in a neat line. She was so focused on her work that she didn't see me at first and I silently watched her from the bridge that led to her farm.

When I had first found out about Chelsea's original reason for taking up the old farm I was appalled. I couldn't believe that she was taking farming so lightly. However, when I asked Taro why he'd agreed to let her take the farm after finding out, the old man merely shook his head with a smile and said, "There's something about her. She's not just another silly girl. There's a determination in her eyes that told me that she's not going to give up on the farm even after the bets over. When you meet her you'll understand what I mean." And he'd been right. On the first day I'd met her I'd seen that 'look' that Taro had been talking about; she wore it when she had been dancing up on the stage. It was strange to see a woman dressed so sexily wearing an expression like that when the other women with her were smiling so charmingly. Brows furrowed, her lips pulled into a thin line, she had obviously been concentrating pretty hard on not messing up the dance and I'd found it slightly comical.

She was wearing that same expression that morning as she worked out on the field. After she reached the end of one of the rows she let out a deep sigh and pulled something out of her pocket. I could just about make out that it was her phone and she was staring at something on the screen. I didn't see it, but whatever it was had angered her. What was it? A text message? A picture? Snapping her phone shut again, she shoved it back into her pocket before continuing with the next row.

"Hey," I called out to her, finally deciding to make her aware of my presence.

She looked up sharply, like a guard dog alerted to a noise, but she immediately relaxed upon seeing that it was only me. "You're here early."

"Obviously not early enough," I said as I leant against the fence that surrounded the field. "Want me to do that for you?"

Shaking her head and turning back to her seeding she said, "No. I can do at least this. You can get started on cleaning the animals. I already put some feed out for them, but I can't get my plaster-cast wet so I didn't try washing them. I also haven't milked the cows yet, so you can do that if you want."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that it? You didn't make me take off time from work just for that did you?"

Irritation passed over her features as she stopped what she was doing and looked up at me with an intolerant scowl. Clearly she had woken up on the wrong side bed that morning. "I've got a pretty long list of things to do actually; I just wanted to try doing as much as I can before I ask you. I don't want you to do anything that I can do myself."

"Suit yourself," I replied before heading over to her barn.

I did as she asked and tended to her cows as she finished off her seeding. The cows were a little moodier than usual, much like their owner, and I guessed it must have been because they had grown so used to Chelsea carrying out the early morning duties that they didn't recognise me anymore. One cow even tried to kick me when I attempted to milk her. After I was done with the cleaning and milking, I headed out of the barn and caught sight of Chelsea awkwardly filling up her watering can, trying her best not to get her arm wet.

"Hey!" I called out, dashing over to relieve her of it. "Let me do it."

She snatched it back angrily, her eyes blazing determinedly. "No! I want to do it!"

"But you shouldn't get your cast wet."

She looked away with a sigh before handing over the watering can. She raised her good hand to her forehead and wiped away some of the sweat that had gathered here. "Sorry. I'm not in the greatest mood today."

I made no reply and finished filling the watering can up as she watched me. It was clear to me that she had a lot on her mind, but judging from her silence I knew that she wouldn't want to talk to me about it. With a silent nod, I walked out onto the field and started watering the newly seeded soil as she went off inside the house to do something else. My eyes followed her as she went inside and I found myself worrying about why she was in such a bad mood. She had been crying only the day before and I began to wonder if maybe her current mood swings had anything to do with the flashy engagement ring that had appeared on her friend's hand just before she'd been discharged. Did she have feelings for the doctor? Was that why she was so upset?

Watering the field took longer than I had expected and I have to admit I felt a little silly standing out there with a watering can. In spite of the fact that I was acquainted with many farmers from all sorts of farms, I had never actually participated in any sort of agriculture work before. Letting out a yawn, I came to the conclusion that it was beyond boring. I couldn't believe that Chelsea did it _every day_. Not only was it actually pretty tiring, since her watering can was deceptively heavy, but it was mind numbingly tedious. No wonder she was always in a rotten mood.

"Hey, do you want anything to eat or drink?" she suddenly called from her doorway. I looked up and started when I saw that she was no longer wearing her bandana but was instead wearing my hat. I had almost completely forgotten about it.

"Later," I told her dismissively.

"You should probably put this on," she said, coming towards me and holding my hat out to me. "The sun's going to start getting too hot soon. Do you want me to get some sunscreen for you?"

I shrugged her question off and she pouted when I didn't take the hat back from her. Her earlier bad mood seemed to have evaporated and was replaced by a cheerfulness that I knew was being forced for my benefit. She continued to stare at me through narrowed eyes until I finally obliging her and took my hat back. Our fingers brushed for the briefest moment as she passed it to me and I saw her avert her eyes nervously.

"Thank you for doing this by the way," she said as she looked away with a blush. "I was sort of joking when I asked you yesterday. I hadn't realised you would actually take me seriously."

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked as I placed my hat back on my head.

"Well... I thought you hated me," she replied awkwardly, glancing at me anxiously.

Unsure of what to say in response, I kept my mouth shut. I had never really _hated_ Chelsea; hate is too strong a word. However, I hadn't particularly liked her either. Not to begin with anyway. Although I had recognised and accepted that she was a determined young woman, I just couldn't tolerate her reason for taking up the farm. It wasn't until I saw how hard she was working that I began to warm to her little by little. Who _wouldn't_ admire someone who was trying so hard?

I stole a glance at her and caught her staring at me. "What?"

"N-Nothing," she stammered, before heading back inside the house.

I spent about an hour and a half out on that field as the sun slowly began its ascent into the sky. By the time I was finished, my shoulder was aching and the back of my neck was sunburnt. I should have accepted her offer of sunscreen.

Once I was done, I put the watering can back into the tool shed and headed round to the front of her house so I could knock for her and ask her if she needed any more help. I was surprised to find that her door was ajar; had she left it open for me? Pushing it open slightly so I could look inside, I saw no sign of her, but saw that her house was ridiculously tidy. There were no signs of clutter or mess that I was so accustomed to seeing in Julia's room and there was the faint smell of lemons and coffee in the air.

"Chelsea?" I called out to her from the doorway.

I pushed open the door further to search for her and that's when I heard the sound of the shower running from the bathroom. Was she nuts? She was leaving the door ajar when she was taking a shower? Did she really trust me that much or was she trying to tempt me? I didn't want to dwell too much on the reason and I closed the door behind me irritably just as I heard the crunch of dirt underfoot from somewhere behind me.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

I turned around to find Denny standing just at the end of the bridge the led to the farm. It had been a while since I'd been forced to talk to him. Distance hadn't made the heart grow any fonder; I still hated him.

"I could ask you the same question," I replied as I menacingly took a couple of steps towards him.

Denny sneered and looked over my shoulder at the closed door of the farmhouse. "I'm here for her. Why else?"

"For her?"

"I heard she got hurt at the cow festival because of you; I wanted to come over and see how she was. Make sure she's alright," he replied smarmily, leaning against the wooden banister of the bridge casually. "Ain't you meant to back on the mainland with your hand up a cow's vag or something? This isn't one of the days you're meant to be here."

"I'm here because she asked me to help her out while her arm is healing," I told through gritted teeth.

The fisherman stayed silent as he considered this, his eyes darting from me to the farmhouse and then back again. The smile that eventually came to his lips betrayed all the spiteful hatred that he held against me and I knew then that he was planning something.

"You like her, don't you?" he asked me with a sardonic smile.

My fist clenched at my side. "That's not really any of your business."

"Well it kind of is since I'm interested in her too," Denny said, frowning thoughtfully. "I've had my eye on her since she arrived. Quite the fiery one, isn't she? Pretty too. Not as pretty as Lanna, but... there's something about her. She's... passionate? Is that the right word? I bet she's an animal in the sack."

"Leave," I told him warningly.

"Sorry dude, I'm not leaving until I see her," he replied, as he folded his arms across his chest and looked at me with amusement. "Oh, look, here she comes now."

Chelsea appeared only a couple of seconds later, her hair still wet and her cheeks flushed. She had come outside in her bathrobe. And fluffy pink slippers. What on _earth_ was she thinking? Alarmed by her casual state of undress, I felt my cheeks flush and I caught sight of Denny appraising her with a perverted smirk. I really wanted to punch him.

"Hey Denny," she greeted him with a frown. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came over to see how you are. I heard about the accident from Julia and I wanted to come over and see if you needed any help," he replied smoothly. His cocky arrogance had swiftly been replaced with the sickly sweet charm that he always used whenever women were around.

"Oh, it's fine," Chelsea said with a shy smile. "Vaughn's helping me out because he felt responsible for the whole thing. He took some time off work to do it, since it'll take a few weeks for my arm to heal up. But thank you for your concern, I really appreciate it. It was sweet of you to offer." I was beginning to think that Chelsea had fallen for his act until she suddenly added, "How's Lanna?"

With satisfaction I saw Denny stiffen and he looked away as he replied, "She's alright."

"Good good. Send her my regards, 'kay?" Chelsea said cheerily before heading back into her house. She paused and glanced over her shoulder at me briefly before shutting the door.

After a moment, Denny let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm gonna need to ditch that bitch."

I turned back to him with a look of utter disgust. "What?"

"Lanna. She's the reason Chelsea's so fucking wary of me. I wasn't prepared to get rid of her before, since Lanna's such an easy lay, but now that I know you're interested in the little farmer I might just broom her now," Denny replied.

I was completely appalled. "What the hell is your problem? Are you _still_ so bitter about what happened back then that you need to screw around with two girls just to get back at me?"

"Revenge is a dish best served cold," Denny said. "Tarantino's got the right idea."

"It's actually from a French novel, moron," I snapped back. "Get an education."

Denny sneered at me and turned to head over the bridge. He looked over his shoulder as he called back to me, "Sorry, I'm not nerdy enough to research dumb shit like that. Got better things to do with my time. See you around, Mr. Livestock Dealer."


	21. Push

**Note from the Author: **Hey again! Here's the next chapter! I'm churning these out quickly now because I've been feeling particularly inspired lately. Thanks so much for the reviews yet again! I love getting reviews from you guys and I'm really glad that you're all enjoying it.

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty One<strong>

_Push_

It was strange having Vaughn on my farm every day. I had spent so much of my time working alone in the past that I wasn't really sure how to react to him whenever he came up to me asking for more things to do. Whenever I tried to convince him that there wasn't anything left for him to be getting on with, he'd always insist that he do the jobs that I wanted to do myself and I must admit that it was nice having him around. For the first time in two and a half seasons I had been given the opportunity to relax and I tried my best to enjoy it while I could. I had to draw the line when it came to doing my own washing though; there was no way I was letting him get his paws on my underwear.

I had been in the middle of doing my laundry when my mom rang me up again to check on how I was doing. Although I had already been discharged from the hospital for a couple of days already, I kept forgetting to call her back and when I eventually did manage to answer the phone I got quite the earful from her.

"CHELSEA EVERETT! WHY HAVEN'T YOU BEEN ANSWERING YOUR PHONE?" she shouted at me as soon as I picked up.

I held the phone away from my ear. "I only have one hand at the moment and I've been quite distracted recently. So sorry."

"Don't lie to me. I know you've got someone helping you out on that ridiculous farm right now. You shouldn't be doing any work at all," my mother snapped back.

"So Trent told you, did he?"

"Yes," my mother replied. "Apparently it's that livestock dealer that is responsible for your current condition. Taking responsibility is he? Good. I can't believe he let a young woman of barely twenty years old help him with such dangerous animals. Completely irresponsible. He better hope I never meet him or I'll break _his _arm so he knows how it feels."

I sulked. "It wasn't his fault you know. It was mine. I can't believe Trent was blaming him."

"I can't believe you _aren't_!" my mother retorted. "Well, at least you had the good sense to tell him to help you out on the farm as compensation. Thankfully this silly farm business will be over after another year and a bit; then you can come back home and get a proper job in the city."

"I'm not going to come back home," I told her, tilting my head to one side to balance the phone against my face so that I could pull out one of my shirts from the washing machine.

"What?"

I shook my shirt out once before chucking it into the tumble dryer. "I'm not coming back home. I like it here."

"But I thought this bet was only for two years, sweetheart," my mother said, her voice becoming softer and almost pleading. "Are you seriously going to stay there even after it's finished? What about Mark? Aren't you two going to get back together?"

I sighed. "No. I can't get back together with him; even if he wants me to. I realised quite a few things in the past couple of months, one of them being that I actually like my new life here. The community here is so cosy and everyone knows everyone else. You just don't get this in the city, mom. I like knowing my neighbours and being on a first name basis with them."

"You know your neighbours here though," she protested. "You know Mark and Mark's parents. We know the Churchhill family across the road and the Joneses a couple of doors down."

I ignored her. "The second thing I realised is that I was never really in love with Mark to begin with."

My mother scoffed. "What bullshit."

"Lovely use of the English language there. No wonder I have a gutter mouth."

"But it _is_ bullshit darling. You've been in love with Mark since you were a little girl. You've never had eyes for any other boy except for him."

I shook my head even though I knew she couldn't see. "No mom, I was _infatuated_ with him. Not _in love_ with him."

"It's the same thing."

"No, it's really not. My friend, Julia, told me that to truly love someone is to prioritise their wellbeing over your own. I never really did that with Mark. I only ever thought about myself and never about him. It was always about my feelings, my wishes. I was infatuated with him and enjoyed his company, but I was utterly selfish when I was with him," I told her, smiling to myself as I felt like a strange weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "Of course, I'm still bitter about the whole break up, but I think I can safely say that I'm pretty much over him. Now, I just want to get back at him for breaking my trust and hurting me by ditching me like that. Once I've had my vengeance I'll be able to move on from the whole thing without any regrets."

"I still don't believe that you weren't in love with him. You cannot pigeonhole what love is; it varies from person to person. Some people love selfishly, some selflessly. It all depends on the personality and temperament of the person," my mother replied with a sigh. "But if you say that you're over Mark, I'll have to accept it. He would have made a lovely son-in-law though. I always thought the two of you were practically made for one another."

"Yeah, so did I," I told her with a short laugh. "I'm just glad I came to this realisation before we did anything more permanent like getting married."

"Marriage wouldn't have been permanent," my mother said. "It's only when you have _children_ that the connection is permanent."

"Some would argue that even that doesn't make things permanent."

"Parents who have children and then decide to separate before the kids are fully grown are selfish. Why do you think I stayed with your father for so long? We're more friends now than we are lovers; we only stayed together because of you and Molly."

I frowned. "Don't lie. I know you still love dad."

"I love him, but I'm not _in_ love with him. See the difference?" my mother replied airily. I could hear her shutting the door in the background. "So what are you going to do now?"

"About what?"

"Finding another man."

I opened my window to let some fresh air into the room, inhaling deeply as I felt the sun hit my face. It was pleasantly warm and I closed my eyes whilst trying to imagine my mom as she was as she was talking to me. I hadn't seen her in over half a year and yet I could vividly remember her. Sitting in front of the television with the television remote in one hand and a program guide in the other, she spent most of her free time watching day time T.V programs or the shopping channel; much to my father's chagrin. Like me, she had fair skin and mousey brown hair, but with light brown eyes that my sister ended up inheriting instead of the blue ones that I'd gotten from my dad. Short but stocky in her middle age, she had been quite curvaceous in her youth and I often lamented my lack of figure in comparison to my younger sister who had been lucky enough to inherit that from her too.

"I don't think I'll get involved with anyone just yet. I'm not ready to jump back on that bandwagon," I told her after a moment.

"Don't wait too long sweetheart. Your looks won't stay around forever and I can't imagine there are many young men out there on those god forsaken islands. If you meet a nice man, settle down with him. He can help you out on the farm, if you really are serious about keeping up with it."

I tutted at her irritably. "Don't pressure me."

"Time waits for no one," my mother reminded me. "Don't forget that."

I sighed and leant my head against the window sill. "I know... I have to admit though... it is quite lonesome sometimes. Most of the time I've got my friends around me, so it's not too bad, but when they're with their boyfriends I feel like a fifth wheel. I was really jealous of Ellie and Trent the other day when he proposed to her."

"HE PROPOSED?" she shrieked in response. Once more I had to hold the phone away from my ear to save myself from doing permanent damage to my eardrums.

"Yes," I replied. "Ellie's punches are probably quite lethal now; that diamond on her ring is ridiculously large. I hadn't realised that Trent was so loaded until I saw that rock. Twenty-four carats. He must have spent a fortune on it."

"I don't doubt it. Trent is from a very good background. Both his parents were doctors too, weren't they? Why can't you find a nice man like that? Does Trent have any doctor friends you could get together with? Doctors make lots of money," my mother prattled on as I leaned out the window.

"Yes, they do, but they're barely around," I told her as my eyes swept my fields in search of Vaughn. "I wouldn't want to marry a doctor."

"Surely there must be someone out there that you're interested in. You're a young woman for goodness sakes; you must have noticed someone."

Almost as if on cue, Vaughn appeared from behind my lumber shed. He was carrying an axe on his shoulder and he had his hat off. And his top. I lost my powers of speech for a full minute or two. The only word I can think of that accurately describes what I saw is 'Adonis'. Ellie had been right; he _did_ exude sex from every pore. I felt the heat of desire flush through me like wildfire.

"Chelsea? Chelsea? Are you there?" my mother crowed down the phone irritably when I didn't answer her.

"W-Well... there is someone," I spluttered as I stared in wide eyed amazement at the sight of Vaughn chopping up the pile of logs that I had put next to the shed. Completely unaware of my gaze, he continued to work without any idea that I was ogling him hungrily like a starving dog would a piece of meat.

"Oh? Who? Is he rich?" my mother asked.

"I don't know. He's rich in something though. He's definitely been getting his vitamins," I babbled nonsensically, my eyes bugging out as I stared at the way his muscles moved when he brought the axe down on yet another log. "Does he work out? I didn't take him to be the type of guy that goes to the gym."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"F-Forget I said anything. I need to go mom. I have... something to do," I told her absently, my eyes riveted on my livestock dealer.

"Fine. Call me later you're making sense. Bye darling."

I hung up without another word and continued to gawk out the window as Vaughn carried on chopping up the lumber. Was he really that warm that he had to take his shirt off? Was this his new way of bullying me? Or was he completely oblivious to just how goddamned sexy he was? I tried not to dwell too much on the reason as I attempted to distract myself with my laundry, though I couldn't stop myself from peeking out the window every now and then.

I had been peeking out of the window just as someone suddenly burst through my front door, which was usually left unlocked so that my friends could come right in, and I jumped in surprise like a child that had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Guilt was probably written all over my face and even more so when I saw who the intruder was. It was my eye-candy's cousin.

Julia stood beaming in the doorway for a minute before she noticed the guilty expression on my face and the weird way I was trying to shuffle away from the window. "What's wrong with you?"

I looked away and shook my head. "N-nothing."

Striding over to the window as I carried on with my laundry, she poked her head out and caught sight of Vaughn as he brought the axe down on another log. The smirk she was wearing when she pulled away from the window confirmed that I had been caught red-handed.

"Were you checking out my cousin?" she asked me slyly.

Blushing furiously, I ignored her question. "S-So what's up? Why did you just burst in here like that?"

Forgetting about Vaughn in an instant, Julia grabbed my good arm and forced me to look at her as she stared back at me with barely suppressed excitement. She looked fit to burst.

"Denny just dumped Lanna. Like... just now. Outside the shop. Right in front of me," she breathed with delight, her cheeks slightly pink. It was pretty obvious that she had run all the way to my house to tell me this.

"So?" I asked, not really understanding why she found it so important to tell me.

"So? SO? It means he's officially single! It means that he's probably going to ask you out! You've always been making an issue with him about the fact that Lanna's always dripping all over him, so now he's told her to back off. Don't you see? He did it for you! For you!" she told me, bouncing up and down on the spot.

This news didn't really please me. In fact, it made me even warier of the fisherman. Frowning, I turned back to my dryer and deposited the pair of shorts I'd been holding before turning the machine on. As the cylinder inside the dryer began to spin and spin, so did my thoughts. Denny had dumped Lanna. But was it really for me? What suddenly made him do this? Did he have some other motivation in doing it? Regardless of the reason, I found myself wondering whether Lanna was dreadfully upset about the whole thing. Although we'd done nothing but gripe and bicker with one another whenever we bumped into each other around town, I didn't dislike her enough to wish such heartbreak on her.

"Well?" Julia asked me expectantly, her face falling when she realised I wasn't as excited about the news as she was.

"You saw it, right?" I asked her, taking a seat at the kitchen table and leaning my elbows on it. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Julia took the seat across from me, her expression turning serious as she began retelling me what had happened.

"So, I was just coming out of the shop so I could pop over and see Natalie when I spotted Lanna and Denny standing over by that well. You know, the one in the legend? I think I told you that legend already when you first arrived," Julia said, pausing to confirm whether she had or not.

I shook my head. "No. You didn't."

"Oh, there's this well just outside of our shop and it's said that the water in it never dries up. There's a legend that if two people in love drink from the well together then they will stay in love with one another for the rest of their lives," Julia told me. "Of course. I've already drunk from it with Elliot; I forced him to drink from it with me when we were twelve. We've been together ever since. Hey, maybe I should tell Natalie and Pierre to drink from it too."

"You're digressing," I interrupted, wanting her to get back to the original story.

"Oh, yes, right. So anyway, I spotted Lanna and Denny over by that well and I overheard her asking him if he believed in the legend about it. Denny said he did and she got all overexcited and asked him if he would drink from the well with her. And guess what he said in response?" Julia asked, leaning forward with a sly smirk.

"There's no point in guessing since you're going to tell me anyway," I replied dully.

She ignored my flippant attitude and continued on with a large grin. "He told her, 'There's no point. It wouldn't work on us anyway since I'm not in love with you Lanna. I never have been. When are you going to understand that?' Lanna's face went completely pale after that and she ran off back to Sprout Island. And that was that."

"That sounds a bit harsh," I told her, folding my arm across my chest and frowning. "Denny sounds like a right twot now. How can he just say that to her after all these seasons of flirtation and encouragement he's been giving her? Has he got something wrong with him in the head?"

"What else was he meant to say?" Julia asked me incredulously. "She was practically proposing to him, Chelsea. Forever is a long time you know. It was a bit presumptuous of her to try and impose that tradition on him."

"I don't know Julia. Even if Lanna _was_ being a bit too pushy, there's just too much about the guy that puts me on edge. And while I know Natalie is quite prickly when it comes to other people, I don't think she would warn me against him if she didn't have a pretty good reason," I said.

"Don't let what Natalie said put you off. Denny's a good guy really. He's been nothing but nice to you, right? He's attractive, attentive and he obviously likes you quite a bit. What's the problem? You're going to lose him to someone else if you don't take this chance," she replied with a grim frown. "It's not like there's anyone else on this island that's eligible and available."

"Are you sure about that? Your cousin was looking pretty eligible earlier," I told her jokingly.

Julia shuddered. "He has emotional baggage. Avoid men with baggage like that; it just complicates things in future."

"Yeah, I was only joking. But anyway, you're talking like you're _experienced_ with guys when you've only ever dated one," I said with a scoff.

"Which means I _must_ be doing something right," Julia pointed out with a smile. "But seriously Chelsea, just go for it."

I let out a groan of frustration. "I really don't know. It's just... my intuition is telling me to stay away."

"What have you got to lose though? Like honestly?" Julia asked, looking a little annoyed with my lack of enthusiasm. "Also, just imagine what your babies would look like. They'd be so effing adorable."

"What?" Had she gone mad?

"I can't wait to see what mine and Elliot's kids look like. I hope they get my hair though. Unless they're girls. Then they'd look like Natalie or Felicia. That would be so cool," Julia began babbling to herself.

I rolled my eyes and automatically tuned her out as I contemplated what I would say to Denny _if_ he did actually ask me out. While it was true that I found him very attractive, I still had a lot of unanswered questions about his contradictory behaviour. Not wanting to dwell on it any more than I needed to, I changed the subject when Julia finally stopped mid-babble to take a breath and I decided that it would be best for me to just wait and see what would happen first before making any solid decisions.


	22. Catch22

**Note from the Author: **Um... here's another chapter. It feels a bit rushed somehow, but I hope it's still semi-enjoyable at least. Thanks for the all the reviews and encouragement so far, I really appreciate it! Hopefully I can keep the suspense and mystery up, since I was having problems with not giving too much away in this chapter. It's so difficult! *headdesk*

In answer to your comment **LatteCurlz**, I have no idea how I keep going! I had the story planned out before I even started writing. Since this is meant to be sort of a suspense romance (don't know how good of a job I did...), I knew that I would have to have the plotline clear in my head before I could even begin to write, since I would have to drop hints and make suggestions ahead of time to build the tension and create doubt in the reader's mind.

Anyways, enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Two<strong>

_Catch-22_

Unfortunately for me, the time for me to make a decision came much sooner than I'd expected.

A couple of days after Julia had burst into my house with the news about Denny's 'break-up' with Lanna, I headed to Chen's store to pick up some herbs that I needed for cooking. I was looking to pick up some basil, turmeric and coriander and so I headed straight to the aisle where I knew they were kept. After picking out a jar of coriander and turmeric, I was reaching up to grab the basil when suddenly a tanned arm reached up from behind me and took it before I could. I went rigid. I knew who owned that arm. And I could feel just how close behind me he was. It was too close.

"Hey," Denny said from behind me. Neither of us had moved and I could feel his breath tickle my ear.

"Hi," I replied. "Would you mind stepping back a bit?"

There was a moment of lingering hesitation, as if he didn't want to move away, but eventually he took a step back and allowed me some breathing space. I turned to look at him and he silently handed me the small jar of basil. When our fingers accidently touched I felt none of the embarrassment and warmth I had when something similar had happened with Vaughn. Instead I felt threatened, like an animal that had been cornered.

"How have you been?" he asked me.

"I'm okay," I replied.

He tilted his head to the side. "How's your arm?"

I smiled grimly. "Still broken."

"So... is Vaughn still helping you out on the farm?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's been a great help actually. It's been a while since I was able to properly relax."

"That's good."

I nodded and forced myself to smile as I said, "Well, I best be heading back." I turned to leave but he suddenly reached out and grabbed my shoulder to stop me.

"Wait, Chelsea," he said. His voice sounded pleading and I bit my lip hard as I fought the temptation to just run away. "Could we go somewhere to talk? There's something I need to ask you."

"Let me pay for this first," I replied stiffly.

After paying for the herbs at the counter, with Denny hovering close behind, I headed out of the shop with him and allowed him to lead me over to a bench just down the street. We both took a seat and I tried my best to shuffle away as surreptitiously as possible when he once again came a little too close to me. Almost like the cows at the festival, I had developed my own 'flight zone' and Denny was stepping into it a little more than I was comfortable with.

The street was relatively quiet as I waited for him to start. It was ridiculously warm outside, in spite of the fact that it was Autumn already, and I could feel the midday sun burning down on my shoulders relentlessly. I usually love the feel of the sun on my skin, but I didn't particularly like the sensation that afternoon. I wanted nothing more than to retreat into the dark gloom of my house and stay there, hiding. I did not want to hear whatever it was that Denny wanted to say to me.

"I told Lanna to leave me alone the other day," Denny began sombrely.

"Oh? Why? I thought things were going well between the two of you," I replied, feigning ignorance.

He turned to me, an eyebrow raised and his expression questioning. "Really?"

"Really what?"

"Did you really think things were going well between us? Or are you just saying that?" he asked.

"Well, I figured that things _must_ have been going well between the two of you since I saw you flirting so outrageously with her on more than one occasion. What else am I meant to think?" I replied with a frown.

"I never really flirted with her though, it was all her," he replied.

"So you're just saying that you're naturally reactive to flirtation?" I asked him incredulously.

He shrugged. "Probably. I wouldn't know. I just react without thinking most of the time."

"How convenient," I muttered under my breath, but it was loud enough for him to hear.

"Look, this isn't going the way I planned," he grumbled, pulling off his purple bandana and shaking his curly hair free. "I called you out here because I wanted to tell you that I like you, but all you talk about is Lanna. You must really be suspicious of me, huh?"

"Something like that, yes," I replied, shooting him a sideward glance as he rested his arms on the back of the bench and leant his head back so he could bask in the sun.

"Well, don't be. I like you Chelsea. You're smart, attractive and you're a genuinely nice person. I know we haven't really spoken to each other alone all that much, but I want to hang out with you more so we can get to know one another better," he said. "Have dinner with me at least."

"Dinner? Where? There are no restaurants around here except for Nick's Diner and Haila's Cafe. Both of which aren't particularly good spots for dates," I pointed out, trying my best to hide my amusement.

"Well, I can cook dinner for us, if you like. Although I might not look it, I've been told I'm a pretty good cook," he said with a shrug. "I can make us some sushi, if you like Japanese food."

I had to stop myself from drooling. I love sushi and Japanese food, but I didn't want him to know that. "I'm not a big fan of Asian food in general," I lied.

"What about Italian then?" Denny asked.

"I'll have to get back to you on that," I told him, rising from my seat swiftly. I wanted to escape before he could tempt me any further with his culinary skills.

He looked up at me and sighed. "Alright... Don't make me wait too long though. I'm not a patient person."

"I promise I'll get back to you about it soon. I just need some time to think, okay?" I told him, giving him an apologetic smile before heading off.

Wanting to get away from him as quickly as possible, I practically power-walked down the street and when I was sure he was out of eyesight I sprinted across the bridge over to Sprout Island. With my inner turmoil over Denny's confession bouncing around in my head, I decided that I needed another opinion over what to do with him. My two best friends having opposing opinions about the matter hadn't really helped me come to any conclusion and so I went in search of a third person to ask about it. Escaping into the cool shade of the library, I hurried my way down the library aisles until I arrived at Sabrina's sanctuary.

She sat, like usual, at the table by the window. There were piles of books around her and she was so engrossed in the book that she was reading that she didn't notice me until I pulled up a seat opposite her and sat down. Glancing over the top of the book shyly, she closed it slowly and put it down on the table in front of her. It appeared to me that she didn't really want to stop reading, but had done so out of politeness towards me.

"Hello," she said with a small smile, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Are you okay? I heard about your arm and everything from Will. Is it healing well?"

I shrugged. "I guess. I'm so heavily drugged on pain killers right now that I don't really feel anything in it. It's going to take a few weeks for the cast to come off though, since the bone is resetting and everything."

"Ah," she said, nibbling her lip. She looked unsure of herself, like she wasn't sure how to console me or comfort me.

"I need your advice," I told her, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. "I'm in a bit of a situation and I don't know what to do. I've asked both Julia and Natalie and they both give differing opinions, so I was hoping you'd give me a third that would get me off the fence."

"O-Okay. What's the problem?" she asked, leaning forward in her chair and leaning her elbows on the table.

"Well, Denny actually confessed that he liked me today and I'm in a muddle about what to do about it," I told her.

"Oh! Denny likes you? Isn't that good? I thought you said you like him. You were complaining about Lanna before, if I remember correctly," she replied.

I grimaced. "Yeah, well, things changed. I learned a few things about him that don't really sit well with me and my friends are at loggerheads about what I should do about the whole thing."

"Go on," she encouraged.

"So, Julia has always been egging me on about him. She reckons he's the last good looking bachelor available on this island and thinks I'll be losing my chance if I don't go for it. She seems to think I'll end up alone forever if I don't. But Natalie doesn't. She's very adamantly against the idea and reckons I should stay away from him," I continued. "And I also have my own suspicions about him too."

"What suspicions?"

"Well, Denny told me a while back that he never really liked Lanna, that she was annoying and clingy and extremely shallow. But the next day I saw him sitting on the dock flirting with her as if she was the only thing in the world that he saw. And then there's also his behaviour at Natalie's birthday party. Pierre baked Natalie this really pretty cake as a present to her, and he was carrying it through the diner to give to her, but then he tripped up. At that exact same moment, I thought I saw Denny give Pierre a dirty look, which I thought was odd because they're meant to be friends."

"Wait wait, info dump. Too much for me to handle at once. First, let's start off with the Lanna and Denny issue," she said, rubbing her temple in concentration. "So you're saying that he lied to you about how he really feels about Lanna?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Are you sure you're not just misreading his behaviour? Maybe he wasn't really flirting, or wasn't aware that he was doing it. Some people are just like that you know," she said. "It comes quite naturally to some people while others are just naturally awkward."

"Yeah, that's what _he_ said, but I get the feeling that he's doing it consciously rather than unconsciously," I replied with a sigh. "If you honestly don't like someone then it would show in your behaviour, unconsciously or not."

"Maybe he was just saying it because he wanted you to not worry too much about what was going on with the two of them," Sabrina suggested candidly. "Even if he doesn't dislike her as much as he said he does, isn't it possible that he just said what he did because he wanted you to consider him and not feel threatened by Lanna being around him so much? It means he likes you, right? Maybe even more than he does Lanna."

"And yet, he was flirting with her the day after when he thought I couldn't see him," I replied.

"Well maybe he was just unsure of your feelings and didn't want to give up whatever he has going with Lanna just in case you weren't interested in him?"

"Possibly," I replied with a sigh. "I mean, he _did_ tell Lanna to take a hike before properly confessing to me, but even if that's true there are other things about him that make me wary of him."

"Natalie's party? You think he tripped Pierre up, don't you? Aren't you being just a little paranoid?"

"Maybe, but I don't think so. I've never seen Denny wear that expression before, and that he did it just as Pierre tripped up? It's too much of a coincidence."

"I reckon you're just being paranoid," Sabrina repeated, looking at me with sternly. "It's like you're looking for reasons not to like him."

I shook my head. "And then there's also Natalie's opinion of him. While Julia is all gung ho about getting Denny and I together, Natalie thinks it's a terrible idea. She makes him sound like some sort of player whenever he comes up into conversation."

"Have you ever considered that maybe Natalie might have liked Denny at one point?" Sabrina suggested, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on them.

I blinked. "What?"

"It's just a suggestion," she said. "But isn't it possible that Natalie may have liked Denny once, but was rejected by him and so she bears a grudge against him?"

I was completely stunned. I had never even considered it a possibility before, since Natalie had been so pure in her hatred of him, but after hearing Sabrina's suggestion I had to admit that it did make sense. I stared in astonished silence at Sabrina and noticed that there was something in the way she smiled that told me that she wasn't just basing the idea off of speculation, but that she knew something I didn't.

"You know something, don't you?" I asked her, narrowing my eyes at her suspiciously. "Spill it."

She giggled. "I don't know anything. It's just a suggestion, really. But it's a possibility, right? Jilted suitors are generally left feeling quite bitter once they've been rejected, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine that Natalie could just be jealous of the attention Denny's paying you."

"Okay, let's leave that aside for one moment. What about my own instinct? Even if I didn't have all these suspicions and questions about his behaviour, I still don't feel... safe. That's probably the wrong word, but I honestly feel like I should avoid him. My woman's intuition is telling me that there's something not right about him, that his intentions aren't pure."

"You just broke up from a long-term relationship, Chelsea. Isn't that instinct really just fear? Fear of getting hurt again?" she replied gently with a soft smile. "Maybe you just don't want to get romantically involved with anyone else yet."

I sighed and hung my head as I contemplated this. Was she right? Was I really just looking for excuses not to like him because I was scared of getting involved with someone else? If another guy had shown an interest in me, would I go through the same process of trying to find something wrong with him so I could justify my wariness of him?

"I also feel bad for Lanna," I added lamely. "From what I heard, the way he dumped her was pretty brutal."

"Oh?"

"They were over by that well in front of Mirabelle's shop, the one in the legend, and she asked him if he would drink with her. He pretty much told her that it wouldn't work because he wouldn't ever love her and she ran off crying or something."

"Okay, yeah, owch. That sounds bad. But at least he didn't lie to her," she said with a grimace. She flipped open the cover of her book and stared at the title page as she said. "Regardless, you're in a pretty sticky situation. It sounds like a catch-22 to me."

I looked up at her in confusion. "Catch-22?" I had heard the phrase used before, but I didn't know exactly what it meant.

"I'm guessing you haven't read Joseph Heller's book," she said, turning the book around and nudging it towards me. It was the book she'd just mentioned.

"What's it about?" I asked, flipping the pages curiously.

"US Army Air Force bombers during the Second World War. The term catch-22 comes from the situation the pilots found themselves in when they wanted to avoid combat missions. In order to avoid combat missions, they could have pleaded insanity and that they were therefore unsafe to fly, but in order to plead insanity they would have to ask for an evaluation. There was only one catch to this and that was the Catch-22; to show a concern for one's safety in that situation was considered the process of a rational mind and therefore to even ask for an evaluation would mean that they could not be declared insane," Sabrina explained. I was a little lost as I tried to get my head around it and she added, "It's a 'damned if you do and damned if you don't' type of situation basically."

"So you're saying that I'm in a catch-22?"

She nodded. "If you go out with Denny you risk potentially upsetting both Natalie and Lanna, as well as putting yourself into an awkward position where you're dating a guy that you don't completely trust. On the flip side, if you don't go out with him then you might miss out on dating a really good looking guy who might not be as bad as you think he is. You'll also probably upset both Julia and Denny himself."

Frustrated, I let my head fall down onto the table with a loud thud. "What am I meant to do?"

"I think in this situation, the only thing you _can_ do is to choose the lesser of the two evils."

"I'm not even sure which that is. Either way, I upset one of my friends," I replied with a grimace.

Sabrina frowned thoughtfully. "Setting the opinions of your two friends aside, if I were in your position then I would probably prefer to go out with Denny and see how it goes."

"Even if it means hurting Lanna?" I asked.

"I would rather hurt someone else than end up alone myself," Sabrina mused. "Especially if that someone is a person I don't like."

I was reminded of Julia's words when she said this, remembering my friend's warning about Sabrina's selfishness. While the comment in itself sounded innocent enough, my own sense of morality rejected the thought. I didn't want to hurt someone if I could avoid it. Although I wasn't on particularly good terms with Lanna, I didn't dislike her enough to wish pain on her. However, in spite of my misgivings about what Sabrina had said, I kept quiet about it.

"So you think I should just go for it?" I asked her.

"She smiled placidly at me and gave a noncommittal shrug. "Test the waters and see what he's like to date him. I mean, what have you got to lose?"


	23. Baggage

**Note from the Author: **Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I got writers block after I bought a new gaming PC and had a new idea for a story, so I struggled to get this out. I was planning to have this chapter be something completely different, but I figured that it would destroy the pacing of the story if I made all the action happen too soon!

Anyway, thank you for all the reviews and support so far! Sorry if this chapter is a bit disappointing!

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Three<strong>

_Baggage_

I watched through narrowed eyes as my cousin slipped through the back door noiselessly, not noticing me as she gently pressed the door shut with a dull click. I was sat in a shadowed corner of the shop where I had been dozing off and could clearly see her outline in the doorway. Her long wavy hair had been let down and her body was shivering from either cold or excitement. Maybe both. I didn't move as I saw her pull a hair tie out of her pocket and began trying to tie the golden curtain back into its usual high ponytail in an attempt to look less dishevelled.

"You're home late," I finally said as she moved to head up the stairs.

She froze and turned to look at me, her blue eyes widening in shocked horror as she caught sight of me sat in my chair. "I-I didn't see you there."

"Clearly," I replied, raising an eyebrow as her hand groped around on the wall next to the stairs for the light switch. Once her fingers found it the lights were flicked on and I squinted my eyes against the sudden of the brightness of the light.

"Why are you sitting here alone in the dark? Were you waiting for me or something?" she asked nervously, smoothing her clothes out.

I shook my head. "I dozed off in my usual chair whilst I was reading a magazine. I guess Mirabelle must have switched the lights off before she headed up to bed. You woke me up when you came in."

"Ah, sorry," she replied with a small smile, placing one foot on the bottom step in preparation to flee. "Well, good night I guess."

"Hey, hey, hey. Not so fast there," I said. She went rigid and turned back to me indignantly as I asked, "Do you realise what time it is? Does Mirabelle know that you're staying out this late?"

Her plump cheeks reddened and I could feel the animosity radiating off of her, but she made no response to my questions and a smug smile tugged at my lips. She knew she had been caught out and she wasn't going to try arguing her innocence. Her eyes drifted up towards the clock on the wall behind me; it was quarter past three in the morning and she knew that her mother would have a fit if she found that Julia had stayed out that late.

"Are you going to tell her?" she asked me.

The smug smile already on my lips widened and I noticed her nostrils flare angrily in response. She took her foot off the bottom step of the stairs and turned to me completely, folding her arms across her chest defensively as she glared across the room. "If you tell her, I'll tell your father you've been seeing Sabrina again."

A jolt of anxiety shot through me at thought of my father's potential reaction to such news, but my exterior remained calm and I simply continued to smile at her. "That's a pretty lame threat Jules."

"No it's not," she replied placidly. "It's a pretty good one. Uncle George wouldn't be too happy to hear that you're seeing _her_ again. And Ma already knows I'm seeing Elliot; I doubt she'd be surprised that I've been staying out this late."

"The reason I said that your threat is lame is because I haven't seen Sabrina in over two weeks. I haven't even set foot on Sprout Island since I arrived here after Chelsea's accident," I replied earnestly.

She was startled by this. "Really?"

"Really," I replied with a nod. "I come straight home from Chelsea's farm."

"But I thought-"

I interrupted her with an impatient tut. "I'm here to help Chelsea out. Nothing more."

Julia's eyes narrowed at this and she moved to take a seat across from me. I could tell from her expression that I was about to get grilled and I rolled my eyes in irritation. Once she was sat down, she laced her fingers together and frowned thoughtfully at me, her head tilting to the side and causing a stray strand of her hair to fall into her eyes. She looked just like her mother when she did that. They both had the same matronly aura around them and the same motherly concern for the people they cared about; it often made me think that Julia was a clone of her mother.

"I didn't realise you were so sweet on Chelsea," she said after a long pause. "I thought you were using this whole situation as an excuse to go and see Sabrina."

"Well, you thought wrong. I'm here to help Chelsea out and that's it. And it's not because I'm sweet on her either," I told her. "I don't know why you think that everything has to be romantically motivated. You see the world through rose coloured glasses too much."

"This coming from a guy who somehow managed to fall in love with a freak like Sabrina," Julia jeered back.

"She's not a freak," I growled.

"Yes she is," she replied, rolling her eyes. "She's always been twisted Vaughn. I told you all about the stuff that happened in high school, didn't I? And yet you didn't listen to me. You carried on seeing her in secret even after hearing what she was really like."

My jaw clenched and I felt anger boiling deep in my gut. "I didn't see why I had to listen to a bitchy teenager's gossip."

"And look what happened because you didn't listen," she replied with a haughty sniff. "More often than not gossip is based off of truth."

There was a long pause and the two of us glared at each other. Although I loathed admitting it, Julia had been right about my ex-fiancé on some levels. While much of the gossip that my cousin had told me when I casually asked her about Sabrina was mostly hearsay, she had been right in saying that the girl was weird. However, back then, I thought it was just thought of it as being one of Sabrina's cute little quirks and dismissed the dark rumours about her.

After a couple of minutes of glaring, Julia's expression softened and she asked me in a quiet voice, "Are you really still in love with her?"

I considered the question carefully and leant back into my chair as I pondered it. Was I still in love with Sabrina? Could I still love her after everything she'd put me through? She was beautiful, intelligent and interesting, and although she had seemed so timid at first I knew that there was definitely more to her than what people saw on the surface. But she was damaged. Too damaged for me to fix her. It was only after she had broken up with me that I was able to see the signs. I began shaking my head before I had even formed my response properly in my mind. "No. I'm not. I cannot. Not anymore."

"But then what did Chelsea see the in the library back then?" Julia accused.

"I don't know what she thought she saw in the library that day, but it wasn't what you're thinking," I replied. "I haven't been in love with Sabrina for years. I feel a lot of things for her, but it's not love. Not anywhere close."

"Then why were you seeing her? Chelsea thought you were asking Sabrina to elope with her."

I couldn't stop myself from letting out a short laugh of disbelief. "She clearly has a hyperactive imagination."

"She spoke to Sabrina about it you know," Julia said. She looked away and I could tell from the way she looked down at her hands that she was worried. "I wasn't lying when I said they'd become friends. Don't you think it's strange that Sabrina hasn't corrected Chelsea's misconception about your relationship?"

"It's not really any of my business what Sabrina chooses to tell Chelsea," I replied, trying my best to appear nonchalant. "Nor is it my business whether Chelsea chooses to believe Sabrina or not. I don't care what she thinks of me."

"You're such a liar," she said with a sigh. "It's pretty obvious from the way you look at her you know."

"Who?" I asked.

"Chelsea," she said. "Even though you try to hide it, your face is very expressive. The way you look at her has softened since the accident and you're a lot gentler with her than you used to be. I think you're starting to warm up to her."

"Well I don't dislike her as much as I used to, but I'm not in love with her, if that's what you mean."

The corner of Julia's mouth quirked upwards as she replied, "You're so dishonest with yourself. But, I suppose it won't matter soon. Denny's already started taking Chelsea seriously so it's only a matter of time before the two of them start dating. I'll be happy to see her settled with a nice guy."

"Denny's taking Chelsea seriously?" I parroted dumbly. I remembered what the fisherman had said the other day on Chelsea's farm, but I hadn't paid much attention to it; I thought he had only said those things in order to get a rise out of me.

"He broke up with Lanna officially and asked Chelsea out earlier today. She was emoing about it over dinner when we were round at Taro's place this evening," she said. "I don't know why she's hesitating to be honest. He's a real catch and there's really no one else suitable on the island for her."

"Why are you so desperate to see her get together with someone? Didn't she just break up with someone a short while ago?" I asked.

"That was like... two seasons ago and I think that the quickest way to recover from a broken heart is to have someone else mend it."

"I think that's what they call 'rebounding'," I told her. "And I think time is a better healer than simply trying to fill the void with a new lover. Especially in Chelsea's case. She's too busy with the farm to devote the same amount of time into dating and boys as you and Natalie can. Unlike the pair of you, Chelsea doesn't have anyone else to depend on and her work needs to come first."

"Of course, I know she has to concentrate on her farm, but it doesn't mean she can't fit in a _bit_ of dating. I worry about her. She must be lonely living all by herself like that," she replied, pausing to nibble her lip before her eyes rose upwards. They met and held mine for a few seconds before she said, "She may be hardy and determined, but don't forget that she's a girl. Like all heartbroken girls, she's fragile and I don't want to see her get hurt by a bad man again."

"And how can you be so sure that Denny isn't one of those bad men?" I asked her.

"Denny's been nothing but nice to Chelsea. He's well liked by everyone and he's attentive to her."

I frowned and looked away moodily. I didn't like the idea of Chelsea dating Denny. I knew all too well what Denny was really like and I knew that he would cause more harm than good to her. I suppose I could have told Julia everything I knew about Denny back then, but I decided against it. I didn't think it was my place to interfere.

I looked down at my hat and the memory of Chelsea wearing it came to mind. I had to stop myself from smiling when I remembered the grin she'd been wearing when she'd first put it on. Before I realised what I was doing I suddenly asked, "What has Chelsea told you about her ex-boyfriend?"

Julia pulled a face. "Not much. She doesn't seem to like talking about him other than to confirm that he's a jerk. From what she's told us, the two of them had been together for six years and she had been expecting to get married to him after they graduated from university. You know the rest of the story."

"He dumped her and ran off to start a farm..." I said thoughtfully. "And so she decided to start her own farm... it sounds totally stupid really."

"I think we both agree that her reason for coming here is stupid, but you've got to give the girl some credit – she's sticking to her guns," Julia replied.

I shook my head; that wasn't what I meant. "No. I think it's stupid that her ex would just leave her like that."

"Are you sure you don't like her?" my cousin asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"Would it matter if I did?" I snapped back, irritated by her insistence that I had feelings for Chelsea.

She looked at me sternly. "I would prefer it if you don't get too friendly with her. You've got way too much baggage."

"By baggage you mean Sabrina, don't you?"

"Who else?"

I tutted. "I don't know why you're so worried about her, she's harmless."

"Tell that to Mary. And Karen. And Carol," she replied, her expression remaining stern and completely humourless.

"It's just gossip."

With an irritable sigh, Julia rose from her seat. "Just don't get too close to Chelsea, okay?"

"What are you? My keeper?" I asked her with a disbelieving snort.

"No. I'm your cousin and Chelsea's best friend," she replied, glancing down at me imperiously. "I just don't want either of you two to make any decisions that you may regret later."

She turned on her heel and headed up the stairs, her hair swaying from side to side as she padded noiselessly up the staircase with carefully practised grace.


	24. Match

**Note from the Author: **Finally... I managed to choke another chapter out! I'm so sorry it took so long guys! I know you've been waiting and I want to thank you for all of your reviews and support. I got caught up with real life stuff and my muses deserted me for a long time so it was very difficult for me to write over the past few months... Well anyway, here's a new chapter. I apologise about how stiff it may read - the first chapter I write after such a long break is usually always kinda bad and I'm a bit funny about having my stories beta read (which is probably why I'll never write anything that'll get published!)

But yeah, once again, thank you so much for the reviews and your patience! I'll try and put out another chapter soon.

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Four<strong>

_Match_

The skies were overcast and grey that morning when I knocked on the door of Denny's shack. The sea breeze was biting against my skin and I wrapped my arms around myself in a lame attempt to insulate my body heat against the cold. I had only planned on being there for a few minutes anyway; I just wanted to let Denny know what my answer was; but I couldn't help but cringe when I heard a low, threatening rumble rolling towards the islands from out at sea.

"Hey! Chelsea!" Denny exclaimed when he opened the door and saw me standing there, shivering. "Oh goddess, I didn't keep you waiting too long did I? Please come in, come in!"

I grimaced and shook my head. "No, I can't really stick around. I just wanted to let you know that I've decided to go ahead and have dinner with you. Just let me know when and where I have to be."

His face froze in stunned silence before a wide, excited grin spread over his lips. "How about tonight?" he asked me energetically, opening his door open a fraction wider as if it would tempt me to come in. "I can cook dinner for us, unless you'd rather us go to the mainland?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Considering the weather, I'd rather have dinner in, rather than out. What time do you want me to come over?"

"Six thirty would be good."

"Do I need to bring anything?" I asked, feeling suddenly shy. Denny was smiling so blissfully at me that it was hard not to feel bashful; he'd clearly wanted this date for ages and it was embarrassing as much as it was flattering.

"Just bring your beautiful self along. I've got everything else covered," he said. He stepped back from the door a moment and pulled something out of a nearby cupboard. It was a jumper. "Wear this," he said, handing it to me. "Don't want you catching a cold before our date now, do we?"

I hesitated for only a fraction of a moment before accepting his offering and tugging it over my head appreciatively. The jumper was rather plain, being a navy blue cotton garment, and had a pleasant musky smell that reminded me of all the times I'd worn Mark's clothes. "Thanks," I said as I awkwardly slipped my broken arm through the sleeve.

"No problem," he replied, still grinning broadly. "I'll see you tonight."

After waving goodbye, I hurried up the beach back to the main road, stumbling as I hopped over the small fence that separated the two. I was excited, nervous and most of all, wary. Even though he'd been so gracious to me, and so polite, I just couldn't shake the growing feeling that the Denny I was being shown was not the real Denny. He seemed almost too perfect – and it was making me grow more and more suspicious of him. Was it all just a ruse? Was he just a playboy that was trying to get me into bed with him? Is this what he'd done with Lanna?

As I was crossing the bridge between Sprout and Verdure, the rumbling that I had heard earlier sounded again and this time it was followed shortly after by a sudden rush of rain which sent me diving for the nearest doorway, which happened to be Nick's diner. I waited a minute to see if the rain would dissipate and when I realised that it wouldn't I figured that I might as well get something to eat. The diner was pretty much empty, with only one or two patrons sitting at opposite ends of the room; though there was one familiar face that I hadn't expected to see.

"This porridge is still hot. I thought I asked you to serve it cold," Vaughn said with his back to me as he stared down at the food he'd ordered.

Nick didn't look too pleased. "If I let it cool down any more than this, the porridge will lose its flavour."

"But I don't like having my porridge warm," Vaughn replied stubbornly.

"Goddess, if you can't stomach hot foods then you might as well get the hell outta my diner. I have no patience for picky eaters like you," Nick huffed, pushing the tray towards Vaughn forcefully.

"Fine," Vaughn replied, picking up the tray and turning around to look for a seat. When he looked up and caught me staring at him from the doorway, his cheeks coloured and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. Porridge? Really? He was eating porridge at that time of the day?

"Afternoon Miss Chelsea," Nick greeted me as I approached the counter. "Escaping the rain?"

"Yeah," I replied sheepishly, running my uncovered hand through my damp hair self-consciously. "Figured I might as well get something to eat while I'm here."

"What can I get ya?"

"Can I have a bowl of the clam chowder?" I asked. I glanced over my shoulder at Vaughn cheekily before adding loud enough for him to hear. "I'd like it hot please."

Snickering, Nick disappeared into the kitchen as I turned around and leant against the counter so I could watch the livestock dealer. Sat in the corner with a newspaper in hand, he avoided meeting my gaze but I could tell that he was very aware of my presence. His amethyst eyes darted over the newspaper a little too quickly and I could tell from the way his shoulders were hunched that he wanted to avoid me.

Once Nick returned with my clam chowder I carefully headed over to Vaughn's table with my tray and sat myself down opposite him. Clearly annoyed, Vaughn looked up from his newspaper and his eyes narrowed when he caught sight of what I was wearing. Having completely forgotten that I was still wearing Denny's jumper, I suddenly regretted coming over.

"Whose is that?" he asked.

I glanced at the opposite wall and said, "Denny lent it to me."

"So you decided to see him," Vaughn said. I wasn't sure whether this was meant as a statement or a question.

"Yeah," I replied as I looked down into my clam chowder.

"I just hope this won't change your attitude towards your farm," he replied, taking up his spoon and giving the porridge a bit of a stir.

"What?" I asked him as I watched him eat a mouthful and grimace.

"This dating thing. I hope it won't change your current attitude towards your farm," he replied after hurriedly swallowing the porridge.

"And what _is_ my current attitude?" I asked him curiously.

He shot me a scathing look. "You know what I mean."

"No, I really don't, enlighten me," I told him coyly as I scooped a spoonful of my chowder into my mouth whilst keeping eye contact with him. Vaughn's expression went blank for a moment as he watched me pull the spoon from my mouth again, but he quickly looked away in embarrassment. He continued to remain silent and when I realised he wasn't planning to make any sort of response I tutted at him. "If it's what I think you're talking about, I can promise you now that I won't change how hard I intend to work. That farm is my life now. I don't generally give up on something halfway through – I'm stubborn like that."

"I know, and I... respect that," he replied slowly, watching me. "I really do respect you Chelsea, running a farm isn't an easy thing to do. Especially not for a girl on her own."

Our eyes locked and the word 'respect' seemed to resound in my mind as a moment of complete silence passed between us. It's funny how such a simple word can carry so much meaning. We never usually think about the people in our lives terms of how much we respect them, and yet it is something so innately important in relationships that it's difficult to maintain one without it. So after hearing Vaughn say out loud that he respected me, in spite of all the shit he'd given me in the beginning, it left me feeling very out of sorts. He himself also looked very uncomfortable by his declaration. It reminded me of how vulnerable he'd looked that day in the library when he'd caught me eavesdropping.

My throat felt dry and I cleared it before saying, "I respect you too."

His eyes rose up once more to meet mine and I felt my heart leap in my chest. While I knew I ought not to allow myself to be affected by him, I found myself unable to deny that I was incredibly attracted to him. It was no longer simply his good looks that I found irresistible, but it was him in his entirety. Now that I no longer despised his personality and had gotten to know him better, I realised that he was a good person underneath the gruff exterior and that we had simply misunderstood each other in the beginning.

"Your chowder is going to go cold," he commented, breaking the tense silence between us. I glanced down at the creamy goop and played with it with my spoon as he added, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For respecting me."

I chuckled. "You don't need to thank-"

"And I'm sorry for treating you the way I did when we first met," he carried on as if I hadn't said anything. "I was unforgivably rude that day at the dance. And the morning after."

"Oh, that..." I mumbled, averting my gaze as I remembered how he'd loomed into me so closely. "I-It's nothing... I had almost forgotten all about that to be completely honest."

"Really?" Vaughn asked, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms. "I haven't."

I wasn't entirely sure what it was that he was referring to –the dance or the morning after- and so decided to change the subject. "S-So did you manage to get the cattle in okay earlier?"

"Well obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be here," he replied with a shrug. There was an awkward pause before he asked, "So you're going on a date with that fisherman, huh."

"Yes, well... constant pressure from your cousin didn't really help," I replied with a small smile. "I just figured that I might as well see how it goes and take it from there."

"Just don't forget yourself," Vaughn said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The fact that Julia had to pressure you into going tells me that you probably didn't want to go in the first place. Just don't forget your own instincts when you're on this date with him," he replied with a stern nod. "Don't let him make you do anything you don't want to."

I scoffed and started laughing. "Goddess, you sound like you're my dad or something!"

"No, I'm just a concerned about you, that's all," he said solemnly.

After finishing our meals in relative silence, we parted ways at the door and I headed back home. I still had a couple of hours to get ready and I decided to veg out on the coach for a while, flipping through the television channels without really paying attention. I really should have been psyching myself up for my date with Denny, but instead I found myself thinking about my encounter with Vaughn. I pondered over how I somehow found pleasure in the uncomfortable silences that occurred between the two of us and I knew it meant that I was starting to like him a bit too much. Attraction was developing into more than that, and I recognised how dangerous it was. I had to remind myself that one of my new friends was still very much in love with him. Memories of Sabrina's tears, and her rage, were enough to shock me out of my daydreams and I forced myself to start getting ready in order to distract myself.

In the end I settled on wearing a pair of slightly worn out jeans and a nice-ish blouse that I had been saving for the Harvest Festival at the end of the month. After a quick slick of lip gloss and a tousle of my hair, I deemed myself ready and headed out with Denny's jumper folded comfortably over my bad arm. I wasn't going to make too much of an effort with my appearance, since I didn't want Denny to think I was too eager, but I couldn't help check my reflection every time I walked past a shop window or a parked car. By the time I reached the beach I had managed to work myself up into a nervous wreck about whether I looked okay and that I was stiff from more than just the cold sea breeze blowing up against me.

"Geez Chelsea, you don't need to look so worried," Denny said when he opened the door and saw the sheer anxiety on my face. So much for not seeming too eager.

"I-It's just the cold," I tried to cover as he ushered me inside and took his jumper and my coat from me. "It's getting nippy out."

"Yeah. I'm glad you brought a coat this time. So... are you hungry?" he asked me with a grin as he waved me over to the dining table. He'd set out the cutlery neatly, with small tea candles and a single pinkcat flower sitting in a tall, thin vase.

My belly rumbled as I took my seat and Denny brought two tin foil wrapped parcels out of the oven. Whatever it was that he had prepared smelled delicious and I kept my mouth firmly shut in case I started salivating. The parcels of food turned out to be baked salmon with bean sprouts and other shredded vegetables in an olive and pesto sauce, which he served with a sizeable portion of rice and a glass of red wine. I was too busy staring at the food in amazement to take much notice of the fact that Denny had poured quite a large amount of wine into my glass.

"This looks... wonderful," I told him as he took his seat. "I can already tell from the way it smells that it's going to taste delicious."

"Impressed yet?" he asked.

"So far so good," I replied as he raised his glass to me. I did the same and he chinked his glass against mine gently in a silent toast.

The evening went by relatively quickly. We chatted about the islands, my folks back home, my real reason for coming to the islands and about my friendships with Julia and Natalie. Harmless things really. I never had much of a chance to ask him about himself, since he would ask me a redirecting question which would eventually lead to a complete change of topic. Eventually I got fed up with his blatant attempt at avoiding having to talk about himself and raised my hand up to stop him from asking another question that would have otherwise had me talking about me me me all over again.

"Enough about me," I said with a forced smile. "Tell me a bit more about yourself."

"Well you know all there really is to know about me," Denny replied with a shrug.

"Where did you go to school? Why did you come to the Sunshine Islands? Who is your first love?" I asked him quickly, holding his gaze as he began looking irritated. "I want to know as much about you as possible."

"Well, I went to school on the mainland. My dad sent me to a private school with his savings, hoping that an education would encourage me to expand the family business. Clearly that didn't work out… And my reason for coming to the Sunshine Islands? I have no particular reason. I just felt like coming here," he replied with a sigh. "As for my first love… It's nothing really interesting."

"Oh come on, I told you about my first love," I replied with a raised eyebrow. "I've told you practically everything there is to know about me."

"Yes, but that's because it's interesting to me. You wouldn't find me nearly as fascinating," he said before taking a long swig of his wine.

"I'm on this date so I can get to know you better and how am I meant to do that without you opening up to me a little?" I asked, resting my head in my good hand and giving him an encouraging smile.

"Well… if you insist," he said tiredly before draining his entire glass of wine and putting it back down on the table noisily. "My first love was a girl I knew from high school. She was beautiful and we were very close friends, but she didn't love me in the way that I loved her. I was her best friend and I could never transcend that line between friend and lover, no matter how many times I tried to tell her that my love for her was more than just platonic. I kept trying all the way through high school, but afterwards she moved away and I later found out that she'd fallen in love with someone else."

After hearing this I began to regret pushing him into telling me what had happened. His whole aura seemed to change and he had lost his energetic enthusiasm about the date; it was as if someone had turned off a light inside him. "I'm sorry," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Pretty heavy stuff, huh?" he asked me, sounding almost bitter. "Be glad that you at least got to realise your love properly before the guy broke your heart."

"I think it's harder," I told him, staring into the red depths of my wine. "To lose something after finding it is harder than losing something that you never had in the first place."

"Well you don't seem to be doing so badly. And as for me… well, let's just say I have no intention of allowing myself to be passed over for another guy again. Not without a fight, anyway," he said, smiling at me knowingly.

As he smiled at me I realised that I was finally seeing the real Denny. Although it was clear that being forced to talk about his first love had depressed him, it had thrown off his mask that he'd been wearing in an attempt to portray what he thought I wanted to see. I'm not sure if it was the wine, or maybe the fact that I thought I understood him a little better, but he seemed far more attractive to me like that; I felt like I was really seeing him for the first time and I was intrigued by what I saw. The room began to spin pleasantly and before I realised what I was doing, we had both leaned into each other, kissing over our dinner plates. It was a long, sensual kiss that sent shivers of desire through me.

"You're so gorgeous," Denny whispered once we'd pulled away. His hand came up to cup the side of my face and I looked away with a blush. I wasn't very used to being complimented for my appearance and I wasn't sure how to react to it. "I want you," he continued, his voice remaining hushed and gentle. "Stay with me tonight."

Somewhere within the depths of my subconscious I felt something nagging at me. Vaughn's words came back to me with startling clarity and I blinked a couple of times as I found that the room had stopped spinning and I realised that I felt very uncomfortable leant over the table like that. Clearing my throat, I pulled away from his hand and sat back into my seat. Don't forget yourself, I thought as I rubbed my eyes with one hand. Don't let him do anything you don't want him to.

"What's wrong?" Denny asked, clearly sensing that the spell had broken. "Don't you want to?"

"I can't," I told him, glancing up at the clock on the wall through bleary eyes. "I have to wake up in less than six hours.

"But you've got someone helping you on the farm right now, can't you just take the morning off?" he asked, continuing to apply pressure to me.

"No, really Denny, I have to go," I said, rising from my chair unsteadily. "I've had a lovely time with you, but I have other responsibilities that I need to take care of."

Denny looked as if he wanted to say something a bit more forceful, but the stern look I gave him kept him silent. He gave a short nod of assent before rising from his own chair and helping me to the door. Silent and gentle, he helped keep me steady as he helped me into my coat before pulling me in for one last lingering kiss that almost broke my resolve. Oh, how I wanted to stay. Yes, you may think I'm just a horny hussy, but it's hard to resist when you haven't head sex in over half a year and you've been living alone for so long. However, I thankfully remained grounded in reality as I reminded myself that I was drunk and that I always got that way after I'd had a few.

"Good night Chelsea," Denny said before allowing me to slip through the door. He made no offer to walk me home and I didn't ask him to. I knew that if I had, he probably wouldn't have made it back home that night.


	25. Fuel

**Note from the Author: **Okay, I got another chapter out. Again, not the greatest, but it didn't take as long to write as the last one, so I'm getting somewhere at least... salt in the snow: Yeah, I know Denny doesn't seem like the nicest person right now, but he's not a stereotypical villain. Not gonna spoil anything for you by telling you about it, but there's a reason behind everything he does.

Thanks for continuing to read!

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Five<strong>

_Fuel  
><em>

I was on my way to Mirabelle's to pick up some animal medicine when I spotted Lanna standing over by the well in front of the shop. Now usually I would have just ignored her, but something caught my eye: she wasn't wearing that ugly green dress she usually wore. Instead she was wearing a long black dress with her hair tied up neatly instead of being left long. It struck me as even weirder when I realised that she wasn't wearing any make-up. She quietly sobbed to herself by the side of the well and I figured that maybe she was just crying about the whole Denny thing. Not wanting to get involved, I headed inside the shop and picked up the medicine I needed. It was just as I was leaving the shop a few minutes later that I suddenly saw what it was that Lanna was intending to do.

"What are you doing?!" I roared, dropping the medicine bottle in my hands and running over to stop her as she began letting herself topple over the edge of the well. Grabbing her by the waist, I grappled with her as she struggled with me.

"Let go of me! Let me die!" she shrieked like a banshee, squirming in my grip as I slowly managed to put her back on her feet. "I'm sick of my life! Just let me finish it!" I'd always thought she was pretty unhinged, but I hadn't realised that she was suicidal.

"How can you be sick of your life?!" I yelled. "You've barely even started it!"

"What would you know? What would you know about me and my life? You don't know anything about me!" she spat back as I forced her to stand upright. I could smell alcohol on her breath and it was clear from how she had trouble forming her words properly that she was very drunk.

"Well I know enough to know that killing yourself is the stupidest option you could have picked," I replied as I kept my grip on her arm firm so she didn't try throwing herself down the well again. "Suicide is a coward's way out, and you don't look like a coward to me."

Her lip began to tremble and I rolled my eyes heavenward when she burst out crying once more and collapsed against my chest. Her tears soaked through my shirt as she wailed and I limply put an arm around her in a half-hearted attempt to seem like I was trying to comfort her. What had I gotten myself into? I'd had no intention of becoming this girl's agony uncle. In fact, I'd always made a point to avoid her since she always liked calling me Vaughny and eyed me up like I was a piece of meat about to be seasoned, grilled and eaten for dinner. And yet there I was, trying to comfort her and dissuade her from committing suicide over some guy.

After her tears stopped and were reduced to a faint sniffle I cleared my throat loudly and asked, "So... are you okay now? No more suicide attempts?"

"Will you l-listen to me for a while?" she asked, ignoring my questions. "I don't particularly care if you judge me for what I'm about to say, but I ju-just want someone to hear it."

Listening to her drunkenly whine about her life was much easier than trying to stop her from committing suicide again, so I nodded and watched warily as she leant against the edge of the well to steady herself. She took a deep, quivering breath before saying, "Nothing seems to ever go right in my life." I snorted at this and she shot me a dirty look. "You don't believe me?" she slurred incredulously. "I was born as the white trash daughter of a junkie barmaid. My father used to be the pastor of the local church, but when he died of a heart attack my mom's attitude towards life took a nosedive and I was dragged along for the ride. For the first sixteen years of my life I learned to look after myself and not depend on anyone. Then I was scouted by a modelling agency one night at the bar my mom worked and she forced me to join. 'It's the only thing you're good for' she used to say to me."

"Where is she now?" I asked her.

"Who? My mom? Hell if I know. She's probably overdosed herself to death on all the money she claimed from me at the start of my career. After Bubble Pop was released, I paid a lawyer to help me legally separate from her so that I wouldn't have to deal with her asking me for money as I got more famous. I haven't spoken to her since."

"You don't miss her? Surely she must have done something right for you when you were growing up?"

"I don't think she ever loved me properly. After dad died, she stopped pretending since she didn't need to keep up an appearance in front of him anymore," she replied bitterly. She wiped away some tears that had started forming in her eyes again. "When I was scouted by the agency she didn't even congratulate me. She said 'finally, you've become useful'. Useful. That's all she cared about. I don't even know how my dad fell in love with a woman like her. From what I know of him from our neighbours, he was a good man. A man of the church. He would have hated it if he'd been alive to see me go into showbiz. I hated it too, at first. But I figured it was better to be told what to do by all those suits than sit at home watching my mum drink and snort herself to death. I tried to cling to my morals as my modelling career turned to singing, but my first single flopped and they were considering dropping me completely."

She paused for a moment and rubbed her eyes. As she spoke I could hear that she was beginning to sober and I allowed myself to relax a little, since I'd been worried she would try throwing herself down the well again.

"The only time things ever went well for me is when I cast aside my morals and my dignity and agreed to do that stupid music video. That's the only time. I didn't want to do it – but my manager pressured me and I relented. And I became a success because of it. The hours of gruelling dance training, choreography classes and live show promotions turned me into a sex icon. 'Chin up darling!' my choreographer would say. 'Chin up, bum and breasts out! Seduce the world!' And that's what I did. I became a one hit wonder and the success after that... well, I felt like my life was finally coming together. When it came to releasing other songs from my album, I refused to film overtly sexual videos. One was enough, I used to think to myself. My fans will love me for my music now that I have their attention. But oh how wrong I was... They all bombed. After the initial media mania over my video subsided and other young starlets started putting out videos similar to mine, my fame died with my record sales. My manager kept trying to get me to make another video, but I just didn't see the point anymore. And that's why I quit. I moved out here to avoid it all and when I got here I found Denny; this handsome, perfect and seemingly wonderful guy that I totally adored. Okay, so maybe he smelled like fish all the time, but I didn't care. I know it may seem delusional, but I wanted to start a new life here with him. He just seemed so normal and grounded and seemed so... real. And he seemed to like me back. I really fell in love with him... But then he met that fucking bitch."

"Hey now, don't talk about her like that," I interjected sharply, knowing that she was talking about Chelsea before she'd even uttered her name.

"It's all her fault," Lanna continued, ignoring me. "The minute he met her he started finding excuses to avoid me and go see her. He'd ask me questions about her even though I didn't even know her. He would always stare at her whenever he got the chance and then he dumped me. He dumped me in the cruellest way possible. And in front of Julia as well, who I know hates me. They all hate me... the girls on these islands... They remember my video and think I'm a slut. I mean, I don't blame them. Why do you think I wear that stupid dress? I've been trying to change how they saw me, but it didn't work. Nothing worked. I'm hated. I thought I could bear it if I could just have Denny, but now that he doesn't want me anymore... I just don't think I can carry on. I have no home to go back to and no friends to call. I have nothing."

"I still don't think you have enough reason to kill yourself. You're only... what? Twenty one?" I guessed.

"I'm nineteen," she replied.

"See, you're young. You've got another seventy odd years left in you at least. Don't waste them just because some guy dumped you," I told her. "Get some perspective girl."

"I wasn't doing it _just_ because Denny dumped me. I'm just tired of living my life. It's just shit after shit with no end in sight," she mumbled back.

"Life's obstacles are character building."

"What would you know about it? You look like you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth," she hissed at me viciously, shifting away from me in irritation.

"I wasn't actually," I told her. I didn't want to elaborate, but I could tell from the way she was looking at me that I would have to. "My father was a philanderer and my mother left us when I was a baby. I'm not saying that I was poor or anything, but I grew up with a missing parent as well."

"Now it makes sense," she said as if she'd just solved some great mystery.

"What does?"

"Why you seem to hate women," she told me, the faint vestiges of a smile tugging at her mouth. "I bet you have abandonment issues."

"I don't," I grumbled. "Anyway, we're talking about _you_ here. Not me."

"Regardless, I don't think you can compare our situations. You haven't had your heartbroken, so you wouldn't know what it's like."

I took my hat off and looked up at the sky. "You couldn't be more wrong about that."

Intrigued, she stared up at me. "Oh?"

"I've had my heart broken before. I was engaged, but she called it off because I wasn't 'suitable' for her. She has 'daddy' issues." I'm not sure why I decided to divulge that to her. Usually I didn't like talking about myself to strangers, especially not ones that I found as annoying as I found her, but she seemed to need someone to identify with and I was probably as close as she was going to get at that moment.

"Love sucks," was all she said in response, but I could tell that she was feeling a little better. Misery does love company after all.

"As for your situation with Denny, I wouldn't blame Chelsea too much," I said.

Lanna scoffed. "Why wouldn't I? She must have been doing something to lure him away from me."

"On the contrary. She's been very reluctant," I told her.

"Is that why I saw her going to Denny's house last night?" she asked me scathingly. "When she came out she looked like she was seriously reconsidering going back there and staying the night."

"But she didn't," I pointed out.

I had trouble trying not to sound too proud of the fact that Chelsea hadn't stayed the night. When I'd turned up at her farm early that morning, I was glad to find that the little farmer was awake and already at work. I didn't ask her how the date went; I didn't want to know. All I wanted to know was that she wasn't rushing headlong into a relationship with the fisherman and she was taking her time. While the part of me that wanted her for myself was relieved for my own selfish reasons, I was mostly glad for her sake. I understood that she was still trying to get over Mark, and that rebounding on someone wasn't the best way to deal with it.

"I don't care whether she did or she didn't," Lanna hissed. "She's probably just holding out because she thinks it'll keep him hooked for longer. That's how girls like her operate."

I suppressed the urge to yell at Lanna for assuming Chelsea was a whore and instead said, "We should get you home. You must be freezing out here in that dress."

"Yeah, you're right," Lanna said, rubbing the sides of her arms. "I didn't realise it till now."

I led her across the islands, ignoring the looks of the locals who were staring at us and when we reached the door to her house I turned to her and asked, "You're not gonna try killing yourself again, are you?"

"No," she replied tiredly. "I've sobered up a little. Not exactly sure what I was thinking."

"You should stop drinking," I told her sternly.

"I know... It's just all I seem to want to do right now. I keep thinking that it'll make it easier for me to forget it all but it never does."

"And that's why I don't drink."

"Yeah, well, you're a bit straight laced," she replied bitingly.

"It's better to be straight laced than to get drunk and try to throw myself down a well," I retorted.

"Yeah, I know," she replied as she pushed open her door. I was just about to turn and leave, but I stopped when she called after me. "Thanks," she said with a very small smile. "For stopping me just now, and for listening."

"Just don't do it again," I told her sternly.

After she went inside and I headed back down the road towards the bridge, I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket and hit Julia's speed dial number. It rang only twice before she picked it up.

"Sup cuz?" she greeted me with a faux-gangster voice. "Rare for you to be calling me up. And weren't you downstairs not too long ago?"

"I was, but then I got a bit sidetracked by that little pop-star trying to throw herself down the Couples' well outside your shop."

"What?!" Julia shouted down the phone. "She did what?!"

"Yeah, you heard me. She tried to kill herself. So do me a favour, go round to her house later today and just make sure she's alright. She seems to be under the impression that you hate her," I told her.

"Well, I kinda do... but not enough to want her to top herself," she confessed, sounding worried. "Was she doing it because of Denny? I didn't realise she'd become so emotionally attached to him. I thought the two of them were just screwing around."

"See? This is what happens when you interfere and force two people together – you lose sight of the other people involved."

"Oh no," Julia said warningly. "Don't try and blame this on me. I didn't know she was mentally unstable in that way."

"Yeah, well, now you do. So go over there and talk to her later," I said before hanging up.

As I passed the local library I was reminded that I hadn't been to see Sabrina in over three weeks. I'd avoided going to Sprout Island as much as possible in an attempt to avoid her and I can't say that I felt particularly guilty about it. I knew that Sabrina had been desperately trying to find me, since Carol kept notifying me that Sabrina was always asking after me at the hotel, but I didn't care . Things were different now. I wasn't going to indulge in her behaviour anymore.

* * *

><p><em>I clearly remember the first time I met Sabrina. It had been on the first day she'd arrived. Not wanting her in the way whilst the movers unpacked, her father had shooed her out of the house and she'd been left to explore the quiet streets of Sprout Island on her own. I had just been leaving the hotel when I saw her wandering down the street and I was struck dumb by how beautiful she was. Big beautiful eyes, pale skin that seemed to glow in the sunlight and long black hair that was left long and untouched by a stylist's scissors. To me she epitomised purity. I noticed that something fell out of her pocket and hurried to give it back to her.<em>

"_You dropped this," I told her as I held the small amethyst pendent out to her. "Is this pendent yours?"_

"_Oh! Y-Yes, it is!" she exclaimed, though made no move towards me to reclaim it. She seemed frightened of me almost._

"_If it's important to you, you ought to keep it safe," I said as I took a step towards her to give it back to her. That's when I noticed that a couple of the links in the chain were bent and the clasp was completely broken. "The chains broken."_

"_Y-Yes, it's been like that for a while now," she replied sadly._

"_You're not going to fix it?" I asked her, moving closer still. Her eyes came up to meet mine and I felt my heart skip._

"_Well... I can't fix it, exactly... Father doesn't know I have this pendant. So I can't ask for his help to fix it. I usually just keep it in my pocket anyway. It's usually safe there," she said._

"_But you just dropped it," I told her with raised eyebrows as she finally reached out to take the pendant from my hands. I found it a little strange that she couldn't go to someone else to have the necklace fixed but made no comment about it._

"_Yes...Thank you for picking it up and returning it to me," she replied, her cheeks colouring as she looked away shyly._

"_Do you want me to fix it for you?" I asked her, motioning to the necklace as she examined it to make sure it wasn't damaged any further._

_She looked startled. "You'd do that for me?"_

"_It's no problem," I told her, taking the necklace back from her quicker than she anticipated. She jumped slightly and looked panicked as I brought the chain up to my eye level so I could examine the pendant closely. _

"_N-No! It's okay! You've done more than enough!" she exclaimed nervously, reaching out to try and take it back. I dodged her and continued to work on the clasp as she kept trying to grab it. It took a while, since she kept making me move and lose my grip, but I eventually managed to tighten the small links and repair the clasp well enough for it to be wearable again._

"_There, just like new," I said as I took her hand and dropped the necklace into her outstretched palm. Her skin was warm and soft and I knew I was probably blushing._

"_Th-That was fast," she said, looking at the necklace with growing delight as she realised that it really was fixed._

"_Just take better care of it from now on so it doesn't break again," I told her with a nod, releasing her hand._

_She pulled her hand up to her chest as she said, "This pendant belonged to my mother. This is my only keepsake of her."_

_I opened my mouth before thinking. "She kick the bucket?"_

_Looking annoyed, Sabrina wrinkled her nose and replied, "My dad says she did, but I'm not too sure."_

"_Sorry," I said, cringing at my insensitivity. "Didn't mean to pry or anything."_

_Her expression softened and she smiled gently, her whole face lighting up as she did. "No, it's okay. You helped immensely. Thank you."_

_Feeling shy but still wanting to know her name, I outstretched my hand to her and introduced myself, "Vaughn."_

"_Nice to meet you Vaughn, I'm Sabrina," she replied politely, taking my hand in hers and shaking it gently. I shook it back, though I was slightly scared of squeezing too hard – I was afraid I might scare her off by being too rough with her._

"_Anyway, I better get going. See ya," I said nervously, before striding off to Verdure again with my cheeks burning.  
><em>

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><p>As I bought another bottle of medicine to replace the one I had dropped earlier, I pondered to myself why Sabrina had changed so much from when I first met her. What if she hadn't changed at all? What if she'd always been that way but I'd merely been blinded to it? I went through my memories of her in my head all the way back to Chelsea's farm, but when I spotted the little farmer all thoughts of Sabrina vanished.<p> 


	26. Ignition

**Note from the Author: ** Aaaaaaand here's another chapter. I didn't really like this chapter, but it needed to be done for the story progression. It's coming along slowly. x_x

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Six<strong>

_Ignition_

I found out about Lanna's suicide the evening after it happened. It had been quite late, around eleven o'clock, and I had been settling down in front of the television with a mug of hot chocolate when I heard the knock on my door. I answered to see that it was Natalie and Julia. While Natalie looked disgruntled and unhappy to be there, Julia looked anxious and seemingly guilty about something.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked as I ushered the two of them inside. I tried my best to ignore the look of irritation Natalie shot me when she passed me.

"We need to talk," Julia said, turning to me quickly. "It's about Lanna."

My lips formed a grim line and I waved them over to the lounge area. After the three of us had taken our seats, Julia cleared her throat and said, "I don't want you to panic or anything, but I figured you needed to know. Lanna tried to kill herself today. She tried to throw herself down the well in front of our shop but Vaughn managed to stop her."

I was completely stunned and my mouth fell open as I tried to think of something to say. But what could I say? I was wracked with guilt as I realised that the date with Denny was probably the trigger, but I was also slightly confused. Had Lanna really fallen in love with Denny so much that she couldn't live without him? I had always thought it was more akin to a one-sided attraction rather than a full blown love. But then again, I had only been seeing one side of the romance. The one time that I'd seen the two of them alone together was when I unwittingly ended up spying on them and I must admit that Denny's behaviour towards Lanna had been more than just friendly; it had been as if the two of them were a loving couple.

"Vaughn never mentioned it to me," was all I could say in the end. "This is all my fault, isn't it?"

"He probably didn't want to tell you because he knew you'd blame yourself," Julia said comfortingly. "It's not your fault Chels. If anything, it's mine. I kept pushing for you to go on a date with him, I never realised it would affect Lanna this much."

"Is she alright now?" I asked.

"I went round to her place shortly after Vaughn told me about it. She was a complete mess," Julia replied. "Her house looked like it had been ransacked and there were liquor bottles everywhere. She didn't want to see me, obviously, but I made sure she promised not to try killing herself again. Apparently she'd had a bit of a chat with Vaughn that knocked some sense into her, but it's still worrying. I didn't realise how emotionally unstable she was. I mean, she doesn't look the type, does she?"

"They never do"

"I just never figured that she was the type to try committing suicide," Julia said quietly. "She looks stronger than that, in spite of everything."

I nodded before looking up at my clock. "Does Denny know about it?"

Julia looked panicked upon hearing my question. "No, not yet. Why? You're not going to tell him yourself, are you?"

"Well, I think he needs to know," I told them.

"Do you honestly think he'll care?" Natalie asked me, speaking for the first time since she arrived. Her eyes were narrowed and I saw the clear resentment she felt towards me.

"After my date with him last night I get the feeling that I misunderstood him this whole time. Nothing in his behaviour towards me made me stop and think that maybe he was only trying to get me into bed for the conquest of it," I told her with a frown. "And you need to stop looking at me like that Nat. I don't know what you've got against Denny, but whatever it is should not be transferable to me. I'm your friend, not your enemy."

Natalie looked away and Julia sighed before asking, "Are you going to tell him now? Do you want us to come with you?"

"No, I think he might feel threatened if he has all of us go over there. Especially not with Miss Deathglare here," I said with a nod in Natalie's direction. "I'll go alone."

"Just be careful," Natalie said warningly.

"Why?" I asked, narrowing my eyes

"He's not the guy you think he is," she replied. "You've misunderstood him completely."

"What is it that you're not telling us Nat?" Julia asked, clearly exasperated by how tight lipped Natalie was.

She merely shook her head silently in response, her fringe falling into her eyes as she refused to look either of us in the eye.

After the three of us parted ways at the bridge, I slowly headed across the islands over towards Denny's hut whilst trying to figure out how I was going to tell him about Lanna's suicide attempt without offending him or sounding like I was accusing him of being responsible. As I passed the library I noticed that the light near Sabrina's desk was on and I made a mental note to stop in and update her on what had been happening.

When I reached Denny's front door I raised my hand to knock on it but paused before my knuckle hit the wood. Natalie's warning held me back. What had she meant by that? Why would I need to be careful? I didn't have much time to dwell on it when suddenly the door swung wide and Denny stood in the doorway looking surprised that I was there. Wearing a jumper and carrying a box of bait and his fishing rod, it looked like he was just about to go out.

"Hey Chels, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"W-We need to talk," I told him.

"Come in," he said, opening the door wider but not moving completely out of the way. I was forced to brush up against him for a moment as I passed and I felt that there was something different in the air around him. Or maybe I just hadn't noticed it the night before because I'd been drunk.

"So what can I do for you?" he asked me as he set down his things on a nearby table. "I hope it's about another date."

I grimaced and skirted away from him slightly. "Unfortunately, no, it's not."

"Oh?" he asked, an eyebrow quirking upwards. "What's it about?"

"It's about Lanna," I told him. I saw him frown irritably and I took a deep breath before adding, "She tried to kill herself today."

Instead of looking shocked or dismayed as any normal person would have, I saw the faint shadow of the expression he'd been wearing at Elliot and Natalie's party when Pierre had tripped up. Disdain and irritation; nothing more. He didn't care.

Noticing that I was shocked by his expression, Denny looked away with a frown as he said, "I had a feeling she would do something stupid. I just didn't realise _how_ stupid."

"For someone that's meant to be a nice guy, you don't look particularly concerned," I told him, backing away from him warily. "She did it because of you."

Denny laughed. "Because of me? Oh hardly. She's been having problems with her life long before she met me."

"What's wrong with you?" I asked him disbelievingly. "A girl just tried to kill herself today because you dumped her and you feel no sense of guilt or remorse or anything about it?"

"You do realise that the reason she did this was because she knew you'd act the way you are now," Denny replied. "You're a very predictable person, Chelsea. All honour and empathy. You feel responsible and so you don't want to see me anymore because you're afraid it'll cause Lanna to try killing herself again. But let me ask you this: how was Lanna's suicide attempt foiled?"

"What?" I asked, blinking dumbly.

"What stopped her?" he asked again.

"Well, Vaughn did apparently. She tried to throw herself down the Couples' Well but Vaughn managed to get to her in time, I guess," I replied awkwardly. I hadn't been there at the time so I wasn't entirely sure of how it had all happened.

"Don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that Vaughn just _happened_ to be there at the right time?" Denny pointed out. He smiled when he saw the unsure look I was wearing. "In all honesty, I think Lanna's suicide attempt was staged. If someone really wants to kill themselves, there is no way anyone can stop them. They'll make it happen some way or another. I mean... Did she try to kill herself again? No. Which means she didn't want to do it in the first place."

"Apparently Vaughn had a talk with her about it afterwards and she promised not to do it again," I replied, determined not to let him brush it off as just a staged attempt.

"Good old Vaughn. Always there to save the day," Denny replied with a bitter smile. "It's up to you if you want to take her suicide attempt seriously Chelsea, but I'm not going to. She's just trying to stop me from getting what I want, and what I want right now is you. Not her."

For some reason I didn't feel particularly flattered by this. I didn't like this cynical side of Denny that I was seeing and I suddenly felt threatened by him. It became apparent to me that my judgement of him the night before had probably been skewed by the alcohol in my system. Now that I was sober and fully lucid, I realised that Natalie had been right; I didn't really know him at all. I was in his house alone, I was still injured and he was looking at me in that same way that always put me on edge. Predatory. I was not naive enough to not realise the danger I was in at that moment.

"So, what are we going to do Chels?" he asked me with a sly smile as he started closing the gap between us. "Are you going to give up on this just because of Lanna?"

"Give up on what?" I asked him, backing away towards the door. "There's nothing to give up. It was just one date."

"Ouch, that hurts," he replied insincerely. "And here I thought we had something special."

"What are you doing?" I asked him as he kept coming towards me and I kept backing away.

"Nothing," he replied, as I finally ran out of space to back into. I had backed up against the front door and he put his hands on either side of me to stop from escaping. "I'm just claiming what I want."

"Claiming?" I asked him angrily. "And what is it that you want?"

"I just told you, didn't I?" he asked as he bent his head towards me. "You. I want you Chelsea."

I felt trapped, claustrophobic and helpless as he closed the gap between my lips and his. I tried to turn my head away from him, but he reached up and grabbed my chin to hold it in place. I squirmed to get away, but he pressed himself against me to hold me there, pinning me to the door with his body. As one hand gripped my chin, another reached between us as he began to fumble with the buttons on my t-shirt. I had never felt so violated in my life and I was absolutely terrified.

When Denny came up for breath and released my lips for a moment, I let out a bloodcurdling scream that caused him to cover my mouth again to stifle it.

"Scream again and I promise I'll make this more painful than it has to be," he told me.

"Fucking rapist," I mumbled against his hand, my eyes wide with anger.

Denny laughed again before saying, "It's not rape if you enjoy it."

I'm not sure what it was about this phrase that angered me so much: the presumption that I would enjoy whatever Denny was about to do to me or the fact that I had heard Mark say it many times before jokingly to his friends? Either way, I was very angry and I wanted to lash out at him in way I could. So I head butted him. I clenched my teeth together and brought my head crashing into his.

Denny stumbled back from the blow and his grip on me slackened just enough for me to push him away completely. I pushed with all my strength and he was propelled backwards into a nearby lamp while I flung the front door open and ran as fast as I could away from the house. Dizziness from my impromptu head butt made it difficult for me to walk in a straight line but panic induced adrenaline kept my legs moving across the sand.

Stumbling over the fence that separated the beach from the road, I let out a cry of pain as I landed on my bad arm. Dizzy, hurting and scared, I began to cry and I scrambled to my feet again as I heard Denny calling out to me from somewhere behind. I had to get away. I had to run. My eyes were so filled with tears that I couldn't clearly see where I was going as I ran straight down the street and I didn't see who it was when I collided into someone.

"What on earth?" the man cried out as he stumbled backwards from the force of our collision. We both fell together in a tangle of limbs, with him landing on his back with his arms wrapped around me in an attempt to protect me from the fall.

"What's going on?" the man asked and I felt him shake me as I clamped my eyes shut and refused to say anything. "Chelsea, tell me what's wrong!"

That voice. I knew that voice.

I opened my eyes a fraction and saw that the man I had collided with was none other than Vaughn. Upon seeing him I felt a fresh wave of tears hit me and I started sobbing uncontrollably as he sat up with me still resting against his chest. I heard him groan irritably at my outburst, but I didn't care. I was safe. Vaughn would protect me.

"Just tell me what happ-" he began to ask again, but he stopped when he caught sight of Denny running towards us. "What the hell did you do?" Vaughn growled as Denny got within earshot.

"Stupid bitch just freaked out on me," Denny replied. I could feel him glaring down at us and I buried my face into Vaughn's chest. "She fucking head butted me and bolted. She's fucking crazy."

I felt Vaughn's arm snake around me and hug me close to him as he said, "Chelsea ain't crazy. You did something to her. Now tell me, what did you do?"

Denny made no response and I felt Vaughn pulling himself upright whilst he kept a tight hold of me. His arm around me was reassuring and I felt my heartbeat begin to slow in spite of the fact that my attacker was only meters away from me.

"Are you okay?" Vaughn asked me quietly, his voice low and hushed so that only I heard him.

I nodded, not wanting to speak. I just wanted to go home.

"You're crazy Chelsea," I heard Denny say. "I'm going to tell everyone what you did just now. I've got the bruise to prove it too. You're just as crazy as Lanna is. The pair of you aren't right in the head."

I felt a deep rumbling in Vaughn's chest as I heard him emit a low, angry growl. His body tensed and I looked up to see him wearing a dark, fearsome expression that startled me. I had never seen him that angry before.

"You dare spread any lies about her and I promise that I'll break that pretty face of yours," Vaughn said menacingly, his arm around me tightening. "And you know full well how I follow through my threats."

I heard Denny snort dismissively which was then followed by footsteps leading away from us and by the time I turned around I couldn't see him anymore. Relief washed over me and I pressed my forehead against Vaughn's chest as I whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied, the arm around me loosening. Taking this as a sign that I should get out of his personal space, I was about to step away when suddenly he bent down and picked me up in a princess hold which caused me to yelp in surprise. Scared that I would fall, I grabbed hold of his shirt like a frightened cat and I saw a twinkle of amusement in his eye at my reaction.

"What are you doing?" I asked him as he started carrying me down the road.

"Taking you home," he said. "You've got a nasty bump on your head and I don't want you trying to walk home the way you are at the moment."

"Y-You don't have to," I said awkwardly, glancing around. Although the street was empty, I was worried someone would see us.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to," Vaughn replied impatiently, looking down at me sternly. "I don't know what happened between the two of you tonight, but I want you to know that I won't let him do anything to hurt you. If you see him again, avoid him. He's no good."

"Why do you not seem at all surprised by this all?" I asked him as we passed Mirabelle's shop.

"This is not the first time this has happened," he replied tiredly. "You're not the first girl I've seen running away from his house in the middle of the night. It's just my luck that I'm always there to witness it."

"What? He tried to take advantage of another girl before?" I asked, my eyes widening in horror.

Vaughn stopped dead in his tracks. "He tried to rape you?" Clearly that was not what he'd been referring to and when I made no response he growled again, his jaw clenching as he muttered, "I'm going to kill him."

"It's okay," I said, trying to placate him. "I'm okay, see? I managed to get away."

"It is not okay!" Vaughn shouted. When I flinched back he shook his head and his expression calmed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout like that. I just... I'm very angry right now."

"I can tell, you look pretty scary when you're mad," I replied.

He continued to carry me in silence after that and when we reached my house he set me down on my feet and waited for me to get my keys out of my pocket. After unlocking the door Vaughn stood apprehensively in the doorway as I made my way inside. Seeming unsure of whether he could come in or not, his eyes darted around as he inspected my house. I waved him inside with a faint smile and he cleared his throat before following me in.

"You have a nice place here," he said stiffly.

"Thanks," I replied. "Do you want a drink whilst you're here? It's the least I could do considering you just saved me."

"No, I won't stay for long. I just want to make sure you're okay and everything. Do you want me to stay a while or do you want to be alone for now?" he asked.

I could tell that he would have preferred to leave, but I didn't want him to. I didn't feel safe being alone. I felt my eyes well up with tears again as I replayed what had happened over in my head. Covering my face with my hands, I turned away from him as I tried to get a grip on my emotions and calm down. I didn't want to cry in front of him anymore. That's when I felt him come up behind me and wrap his arms around me comfortingly, resting his chin on top of my head as he made comforting shushing noises.

"I'll stay with you for now," he said once my tears had subsided. "And I'll call one of your friends over when I have to leave, okay?"

I turned to look at him and I felt my heart throb almost painfully when I saw the concern in his eyes. Unlike Denny, Vaughn was being completely genuine; his eyes spoke nothing but truth.


	27. The Spark

**Note from the Author: **Again, not my favourite chapter. It was so fricken hard not to make this a Velsea romance chapter which it easily could have been. You have no idea how much I had to restrain my inner fangirl when I was writing this.

The next chapter should be up tomorrow, I'm still editing it and changing a few things round. Thanks for reading everyone! I'm glad you guys are still waiting on my updates. x_x I feel bad about the long hiatus I took, but I promise I'll try my best to update until the story is completely finished (nowhere near yet ;_;).

**blacksunset1214: **I was totally imagining Lanna as Hyuna when I first started writing this! HAHA. But the Bubble Pop song that I mentioned in the story isn't the same song 'cus Lanna's not Korean obviously. I just used the name since it was kinda generic and gives you a good idea of the type of pop music Lanna sang. I have to admit though that the whole Lanna turning into a sex-icon thing was mainly inspired by a friend of mine complaining about how her boyfriend kept drooling over Shakira's video for She-Wolf and played it on repeat. RL inspiration win.

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Seven<strong>

_The Spark_

I had a sore neck when I woke up the next morning. As the sun seeped through the blue curtains of the room and cast beams of light across the floor, I opened my eyes to find that I was not in my own bed back at the hotel but was sat in a chair in a room that wasn't familiar to me. It took me a moment to remember what had happened the night before but when I did I turned to my left to see Chelsea curled up under her bed covers like a sleeping cat. She looked so serene in her sleep that I felt something clench up in my chest at the sight of her and I mentally berated myself for feeling so strongly attracted to her in spite of the circumstances.

Although I had told her that I would call up one of her friends to keep watch of her during the night instead of me, I couldn't bring myself to leave after she'd fallen asleep and I ended up staying the night. I knew that I would probably have to face awkward questions from Carol and Julia, but I didn't care anymore. After seeing how frightened Chelsea had been when she'd collided into me I realised that Julia had been absolutely right about her; she was still fragile in spite of her inner strength. As I thought about her, I heard her snuffle in her sleep and realised that she was probably about to wake up. Not wanting her to know that I had intentionally stayed the night, I clamped my eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.

"Vaughn?" she called my name meekly, her voice husky from sleep. I heard her sitting up before she mumbled to herself, "He must have fallen asleep."

Curious as to what she would do, I pretended to stay asleep as I heard her get out of bed and stretch. I peeked through slits as I watched her scurry off to her bathroom and a moment later I heard the shower turn on. I was a little surprised to be honest. Even after being attacked by Denny she still had no sense of danger when it came to the men in her life. Did she really not know how vulnerable she was? Did she not see me as a threat? In the end I realised that it wasn't that she was ignorant; it was because she trusted me. In spite of everything, she trusted me to not take advantage of her like Denny did.

As I waited for her to finish her shower I allowed myself to doze off for abit. I'm not sure how long I slept for, but I was woken by the pleasant aroma of porridge cooking and I awoke with a smile as I inhaled the scent. Getting up from my chair, I yawned theatrically as I wandered over to the kitchen and saw Chelsea stood at the stove with a frown of concentration. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she had a white apron over her clothes as she cooked, reminding me of a stereotypical housewife. She hadn't heard me come in and nearly jumped out of her skin when she glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of me.

"Gosh Vaughn, you scared me," she said nervously, wiping away the flecks of porridge that had splattered onto her apron when she'd dropped her spoon into the saucepan.

"Morning," I greeted her as I eyed the saucepan full of porridge hungrily. "Did you sleep well?"

"Surprisingly, yeah," she replied with a forced smile. "What about you? It can't have been comfortable sleeping in that chair all night. I thought you said you were going to call Nat or Julia over."

"I ended up falling asleep," I lied, wearily taking a seat at her kitchen table.

"Well, thank you for staying," she said, a charming blush spreading over her cheeks as she stared at me with those baby blues. She really had no idea just how pretty she was.

"No problem," I replied. "Do you still need me to stay with you? Or do you want me to leave?"

"I don't want you to go!" she replied quickly, sounding almost panicked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she suddenly froze and pulled a face, turning away from me in embarrassment as she added, "I made some porridge for you, since you like it. I figured this is the least I could do to repay you for last night."

"You don't need to repay me," I told her as I slowly lowered myself into a seat at the table.

Chelsea simply smiled in response and turned the stove off. After dispensing the porridge into a bowl, she sprinkled some brown powder on top of it and mixed it in. I wasn't too keen on how thick the porridge looked and was about to tell her, but then she opened her fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk. She mixed some of the cold milk into the porridge which thinned it out and cooled the mixture off. She remembered that I didn't like my porridge too hot.

"Thanks," I said after she had put the porridge down in front of me. She gave me a nod before beginning to clean up the saucepan. I stared down at the contents of the bowl before asking, "Aren't you going to have some?"

"No," she replied, not turning around to look at me. "I lost my appetite a bit."

"Worrying about last night?"

She gave a slow nod and I saw her jaw clench. "I can't really make sense of it all. I can't understand why Denny would do something like that."

As I stared at her back it suddenly hit me how I could have prevented what had happened. Everyone could have. If the people around her, including myself, had been more honest and open with their pasts then she would have been more aware and wouldn't have gone to Denny's house alone. Granted, it was rather stupid, but she'd gone on the date with the guy already; she hadn't expected him to try forcing himself on her.

"Chelsea, I need to tell you something," I began.

She glanced over her shoulder at me. "What is it?"

"It's about Denny."

Her eyes widened a fraction before she frowned and put the saucepan down on the sink draining board. "What about him?"

"Denny's got some issues that stem mostly from something that happened a couple of years back when he first arrived on the island. I'm not trying to justify what he did to you last night, but I feel you have a right to know why he acts the way he does," I began.

"What, like he hates women?" she asked sardonically.

"Exactly," I said with a nod. "But I need you to promise me that what I tell you today will not leave these walls."

She gave a short, accepting nod and I took a deep breath before continuing.

"How much do you know about Denny from before he came to the island?" I asked her.

"Very little. I know he went to a private school that his dad sent him to on the mainland and that he was in love with his best friend there, but other than that... Not much else. Oh, and I know he never knew his mother," she replied.

"Well, I didn't know about the mother," I said thoughtfully. "Though I guess it makes sense now. Anyway, that best friend he spoke to you about, did he mention who she was?"

Chelsea shook her head.

I paused as I tried to decide whether to tell her or not. I wasn't sure how close the two of them had become and I didn't want to upset her. I stared hard at Chelsea to try and discern whether she was ready to know or not and she stared back at me resolutely, clearly determined to make me finish what I had started. I rubbed my eyes tiredly and didn't look at her as I said, "It was Sabrina."

Chelsea whole body went rigid for a moment. Whether it was out of shock, disbelief or outrage, I wasn't sure, but she had clearly not been expecting it. Her eyes bugged out and she looked around herself in confusion before her eyes returned to me and she asked, "Sabrina? As in, your ex-fiance Sabrina. Sabrina DeLauer?"

I simply nodded and she blinked a couple of times before asking, "What _happened_?"

"I don't know the specifics, but from what I know it was an unrequited love. She moved away after they graduated and he followed her here. They got into an argument and Sabrina refused to speak to him afterwards. According to Sabrina he changed after that," I told her, watching her reaction carefully. Something about the look in her eye made me think that she somehow felt betrayed by what I'd just told her and it made me wonder exactly what Sabrina had been telling her about Denny.

"So because Sabrina refused him, he started acting like a dick towards women?" Chelsea asked incredulously.

I wanted to reprimand her for the foul language but I decided not to, considering the fact that she had every right to be angry. I sighed and gave her a nod. "He felt like Sabrina simply strung him along all those years in high school just for the fun of it. Now he's doing it to all the women in his life."

"And Sabrina," Chelsea said suddenly, almost seething. Her eyes were lit up angrily and her movements were stiff and wooden as if she was resisting the urge to full on rage. "She... She was encouraging me too. She was encouraging me knowing full well that he'd become like that. I can't believe this. Why would she do that? Why do I feel like everyone on this fucking island is hiding something from me? I'm getting sick of it."

She continued to dry up her cooking utensils, crashing the saucepan down with unnecessary force as she put it away and slammed the draw shut.

"I didn't want to tell you before because I usually don't like getting involved with other people's business. It's not my place. But after last night I figured that you needed to know," I replied uneasily as she remained silent and busied herself unnecessarily with tidying her cooking space up. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

Chelsea turned to me with a sad smile and I felt my heart squeeze again. "It's not your fault Vaughn. Thank you for telling me. Even though I still don't understand why he targeted me, it's still nice to have some idea of Denny's mindset."

"I think I know why he targeted you in particular," I told her guiltily. "He's doing it to get back at me."

"How is attacking me going to get back at you? I don't get it," she replied.

I sighed tiredly and shrugged. "He got the wrong idea about us obviously."

Somehow my words seemed to affect her more than I thought they would. More than surprised, she looked hurt and she turned away from me as if she was almost disappointed by what I'd just said. I was puzzled by her reaction at the time but decided to think nothing of it. I was a bit dense.

"There's another part of the story that you still have yet to find out about, but I think I'll leave that to her to tell you," I added.

"Who, Sabrina?" Chelsea asked.

"No. I won't tell you who she is; she'll tell you in her own time I guess," I said before turning my attention back to my porridge. I dipped the spoon into the mixture and had a taste; it was perfect. It was cold and tasted wonderful; the brown powder she had added was cinnamon and it offset the creaminess of the porridge nicely. I looked up and caught Chelsea watching me as I ate, the faint hint of a smile playing on her lips. I felt my cheeks grow red. "What?"

She shook her head and smiled but continued to watch me. Growing unnerved by it, I ate the rest of my porridge quickly before putting my spoon down and saying, "Thanks."

"Did you like it?" she asked. It was a silly question.

"Yeah."

"Good. I'll make you some more tomorrow," she said cheerily, seeming to have forgotten about all that I'd told her about Denny and Sabrina.

"You don't have to," I began to say, but she silenced me by making a zip gesture across her mouth.

"I don't have to, but I want to," she said.

After that I made my excuses to head back to the hotel and Chelsea followed me out to the bridge that connected her island with Verdune and thanked me one last time for everything. As she stood there staring up at me with those clear blue eyes of hers, I wondered what would happen if I just went ahead and kissed her like I wanted to. Would she be repulsed and think I was trying to take advantage of her like Denny had, or would she respond to me? Even though we had gotten off to a bad start in the beginning, I hadn't been blind to the effect I seemed to have on her; whenever I leaned in too close or looked at her in a certain way she'd blush and become agitated. Was it possible that she reciprocated the way I felt about her? Or was she just naturally bashful?

We continued to stare at each other in total silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts, when we suddenly heard a gasp and a dull thud. Looking up, I felt something inside my stomach somersault. It was Sabrina. The dull thud had been the basket of oranges that she had been carrying with her, obviously as a gift to Chelsea, and I watched for a moment as the oranges rolled away from her.

"V-Vaughn," Sabrina breathed, a shaking hand rising to cover her mouth as she gaped. "What are you doing here?"

Chelsea answered for me, the pitch of her voice rising in what I assumed was panic. She seemed to have forgotten that she was mad at Sabrina. "He's been helping me out on the farm since the cow incident. Doing the things I can't do because of my cast. Nothing more."

Sabrina didn't even acknowledge her and simply kept staring at me in disbelief. "Why haven't you been visiting me if you've been here this whole time? I don't understand..."

"It's just as Chelsea says. I've been helping her out," I replied, evading her second question. "I was the reason she got into the situation that caused her to break her arm and so I'm taking responsibility for it."

"Answer me!" Sabrina exclaimed, her eyes welling up with tears as she came towards me. I took a step back and she started when she saw my reaction. "Why haven't you been visiting me? Why are you avoiding me?"

I glanced at Chelsea and saw the expression of guilt written all over her face. She blamed herself. And that didn't sit well with me at all.

"I've been avoiding you because I don't want to see you," I said plainly. Sabrina flinched and I frowned as I added, "My father allowed me to take the time off work to help out Chelsea on the condition that I won't see you whilst I'm here. He doesn't want me getting involved with you and after some thought I agree with him."

Hearing this, Sabrina froze, her eyes widening further as she realised what I had said. I didn't want to see her anymore. I was cutting ties with her completely. Letting out a heaving sob, Sabrina turned back the way she came and ran away from us, wailing loudly like an upset child. Watching her go I felt no remorse over it. She had broken my heart, and Denny's, and now I had broken hers. Chelsea tried to run after her, but I didn't let her, taking a hold of her arm and pulling her back.

"Let me go!" Chelsea yelled at me, trying to tug her arm out of my grip. "I have to go and talk to her! She's upset!"

"It's not a good idea right now," I told her as she struggled with me. "I should know."

"She's my friend!"

"Fine, do what you want," I said, releasing her arm angrily and causing her to stumble back. "Her father will never admit you into that house if she doesn't want to talk to you. Trust me, I've tried. Their property is gated and there are security cameras everywhere. They also own three Dobermans. If she refuses to see you, which she will, then there's no hope."

"So you're saying I shouldn't even try?!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," I told her, growing impatient.

Chelsea shot me a dirty look before storming off into town, her head held high indignantly as she headed towards the DeLauer mansion.


	28. Burn

**Note from the Author: **Thank you for the reviews everyone! They motivating me to keep writing and I really appreciate it!

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><p><strong>Chapter Twenty Eight<strong>

_Burn_

"Sabrina! Wait!" I cried out as I chased after her. She glanced over her shoulder at me, tears streaming down her face, before turning ahead and increasing her speed. I continued to run after her, desperate to explain and reason with her since I knew that it wasn't Vaughn's words that had upset her; it was what she'd thought she'd seen on the bridge.

"Please Sabrina! Let me explain!" I yelled lamely, jumping over a log as Sabrina cut across a field and headed to the bridge that connected the two islands.

My heart was beating so hard that I could hear the thrum of it in my ears and I was out of breath from having run so far so fast. I had been so utterly focused on chasing after Sabrina that I didn't see the blur of green that rushed towards me from out of nowhere and suddenly two pale hands shot out and shunted me to the ground. I fell on my side hard, skidding cross the grass and staining my clothes green with the momentum of the fall. Once again I had fallen on my bad arm and I held back a scream, my eyes clamping shut as I braced myself against the pain. With my eyes shut I wasn't able to see what was coming next and soon the pain in my arm was joined by the sting of slaps across my face as someone jumped on me and started slapping me manically.

"You whore!" they shrieked repeatedly as they straddled my stomach and slapped me over and over again with as much force as they could. Not wanting them to damage my eyes, I kept them clamped shut throughout the assault and didn't see my attacker at first. I tried to raise my arms up to protect myself but pain zinged up my bad arm in protest and I ended up resorting to trying to put my free hand over the face of my attacker. We scrabbled and slapped one another for a minute before I finally got a hold of their wrist and twisted it hard which caused them to topple off me in pain.

"You broke my wrist!" she squealed as I sat up, my arm aching as my face throbbed from the attack. I stared at my attacker. It was Lanna.

Before I could say anything to her, she lunged for me again, her nails try to claw at my face. I could smell the alcohol on her and her hair was a tangled mess. I remembered what Julia had told me about what she'd seen when she'd gone to Lanna's house and I guessed that she was probably drunk. After grabbing her wrist and twisting it again, she let out a scream of pain and rolled away from me completely, clutching her wrist to her chest as she started sobbing loudly like a child. By that point a small crowd had started gathering around us anxiously and I saw two welcome faces pushing through it.

"Looks like she's finally lost it," Natalie muttered in disgust at Lanna as Julia rushed forward to help me up.

"She's drunk out of her mind," Julia deduced as she looked over at Lanna with a mixture of sympathy and revulsion. "We should get her back home."

"Leave me alone," Lanna sobbed. I detected a slight slur in her voice which I hadn't noticed during the attack. "It's all Chelsea's fault."

"I didn't do anything to you," I replied, cradling my broken arm. "You just pushed me over out of nowhere."

"If you weren't here..." Lanna sobbed unintelligibly.

"If she wasn't here, what?" Natalie asked challengingly. Unlike Julia, Natalie clearly felt no sympathy for her.

"If she wasn't here than Denny would still be with me," Lanna snapped, sitting upright and glaring straight at Natalie. "She _took_ him from me!" she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.

Realising that this was a matter that needed to be dealt with in private, Julia quickly started telling the onlookers that everything was alright and did her best to disperse them as Lanna continued to cry and cuss intermittently. She kept saying horrible things about me, over and over again, and I felt my eyes beginning to well up with tears at some of the insults she kept hurling at me from her position on the floor.

"I didn't take anyone from anybody," I eventually told her through my tears once the last onlooker was out of earshot. "You've got it all wrong."

"That's a load of bull," Lanna replied nastily. "I saw you going to his house late last night. Booty call was it? I know Denny is fond of those and I bet you just opened your legs wide for him, didn't you slut?"

"Fuck you!" I yelled angrily, trying to make a lunge at Lanna. Natalie got there just in time to hold me back . "You know nothing about what happened last night! And you're a goddamn hypocrite! You call me the whore? You're the one who spread her legs for Denny when he asked you to and now that he's done with you, you can't face the truth! You can't get it through your thick bloody skull that he's the bad guy in this situation, not me!"

"But it _is_ your fault! If you hadn't been here he would still be with me!" Lanna yelled back, struggling to her feet. "If you hadn't come here he wouldn't have taken notice of you and your pathetic girl-next-door charm. You're a scrub! A nobody! You don't deserve to have someone like Denny interested in you!"

Without warning, Natalie let go of me and her fist flew out and connected with Lanna's jaw. It knocked Lanna out cold and both Julia and I stood in shock as she hit the floor with a dull thud. I looked back up at Natalie and saw that she wasn't wearing the look of anger that I had expected, but instead she looked pained and upset.

"Stupid bitch," Natalie said bitterly as she looked down at Lanna. "She didn't listen to me. I told her, Denny's not a good person, but she didn't listen to me. That's why I gave up trying to convince people and now look what's happened to her. She's turned into a drunk lunatic."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I can't tell you," she replied, looking down at Lanna who was sprawled across the grass, passed out. "We need to get her back to her house."

I grabbed Natalie's arm and turned her to look at me. "Natalie, what are you talking about? Tell me."

She frowned at me pleadingly, shaking her head as if silently begging me not to make her say it. But I wanted to know. I needed to know whatever it was that she wasn't telling me. I was fed up of all the secrets. I wanted to know the truth - all of it.

"Don't keep it from me Nat. I deserve to know after what happened to me last night," I told her, grabbing both of her arms and holding her still as she tried to turn away from me again.

"What happened last night?" Julia asked, but I ignored her.

"Nat, tell me," I said, giving her a bit of a shake.

Natalie started crying as she looked at me and it surprised me more than Lanna's attack had. I had never seen her cry before. She sniffled and wiped her tears away angrily as she said, "The reason I know why Denny's a bad person is because I'm one of his victims."

"He tried to rape you too?" I asked her in horror, my grip on her arms slackening.

Natalie's eyes widened in disbelief. "He tried to rape you?"

"He did _what_?!" Julia exclaimed, pulling me around to look at her. "_What_ did Denny do?!"

I looked away bitterly. "He tried to force himself on me last night after I told him about what Lanna tried to do to herself."

"That asshole!" Natalie raged, her tears from a moment ago forgotten as she turned and started to stomp across the field towards Sprout. Both Julia and I pulled her back as she hissed, "I'm going to kill him! I'm going to fucking kill him!"

"Nat, calm down," I told her as she struggled with us. "I'm fine, okay? He didn't get very far with it."

"How did you manage to escape? You were alone with him last night, weren't you?" Julia asked as we continued trying to restrain Natalie.

I smiled. "I gave him a bit of a headache. I head butted him."

Natalie stopped struggling and stared at me in amused surprise before she started laughing. She pulled me into a hug and said, "You're awesome Chelsea. I wish you'd moved here sooner."

She continued to laugh as Julia and I started getting Lanna to her feet, the pair of us supporting the pop-singer on our shoulders and eventually we slowly made our way towards Lanna's house. As we crossed the bridge, Julia glanced at Natalie as she asked, "What did you mean by saying that you're one of his victims?"

Natalie smiled ruefully as she said, "After Denny and I first met something clicked between us. It started out as a purely sexual thing and I would usually go over to his place a couple of nights a week to just 'vent our frustrations on one another', as he used to call it."

"You were sleeping with Denny?" Julia repeated dumbly, as gobsmacked by this revelation as I was. We both stared at her with our mouths open and our eyes wide as we waited for her to continue.

"I didn't want to tell you Julia because I knew you would be scandalised by it, so I decided to keep the whole thing a secret. I pretended that I hated him to throw off any suspicion while we continued to see each other. I hadn't been in love with him at the start and I told him that 'love' wasn't in the cards for me and he said he understood and never pushed the issue. But then he started trying to woo me genuinely. He gave me flowers, gifts, complimented me all the time and did all the rubbish that Casanova types usually do. Eventually I did start falling for him and... well... he was my first love," Natalie told us, her eyes fixed straight ahead as we headed towards Lanna's house.

"So what happened?" Julia asked, clearly confused.

"The day after I told him that I'd fallen in love with him, he broke up with me," Natalie replied bitterly. "It was that day that I broke Elliot's glasses, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," the blonde replied with a nod. "I wish you'd told me Nat. You didn't need to shoulder that all by yourself."

"Yes, I did," Natalie replied with a smile. "It made me stronger and showed me what type of person Denny really is. He's got some serious problems, mostly concerning abandonment issues. That's why I kept telling you to stop pushing Chelsea into dating him and why I never had a good word to say about him. I'm just really fortunate that Pierre moved to the islands shortly after the break up, otherwise I probably would have turned into a bitter wreck like Lanna."

"You wouldn't have become like her so quickly though," Julia replied, as she pushed open the front door of Lanna's house with her foot. Lanna had left it ajar in her stupor and all the lights were still on. Just as Julia had said, her house was a mess and I caught sight of a couple of liquor bottles on random surfaces, along with one smashed bottle over by the window.

"Is it okay for us to just leave her here?" I asked with some concern as Julia and I dumped Lanna's unconscious body on the sofa. "What if Nat gave her a concussion or something?"

"Why are you so concerned about her?" Natalie asked incredulously. "The woman was trying to beat you up earlier."

Julia bent down to inspect Lanna's face and we could see the faint shadow of a bruise where Natalie's knuckles had impacted. "You really gave it to her Nat, she's gonna feel that for a week."

"Good," Natalie replied angrily. "I tried to warn her about Denny, you know. She wouldn't listen. She said that he would change for her, that this time it would be different. I didn't want her saying shit about Chelsea when I already told her that he wasn't a good person."

"Let's leave her to sleep it off. She's going to be out for a couple of hours at least. Hopefully it'll give her time to sober up," I said, glancing down at the unconscious pop-star with disdain.

After we had tidied up the room as best we could, we headed back to over to Verdure and ended up going to Julia's place so that we could chat some more. As we entered the shop, I caught sight of Vaughn sat at the back and he brazenly stared at me as I followed Julia into the living room. I had been angry when I left him at the bridge earlier and I wondered what he was thinking when he saw me covered in grass stains and slap marks. I didn't have much chance to dwell on it when Julia suddenly pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tight as Natalie shut the door.

"I'm so sorry Chelsea. I'm so sorry that happened to you last night," she murmured as I heard Natalie scoff and tut. I didn't see it, but I'm pretty sure she must have rolled her eyes too.

"Chill Jules, she's fine. Chelsea can take care of herself," Natalie said tersely as she sat down on the couch and folded her arms across her chest. She regarded me with an approving smile as she said, "I'm so glad you gave him what for."

"I'm pretty sure I left a bruise where I hit him," I said sheepishly, reaching up and rubbing the spot on my forehead where I'd hit him. "I just wish I hadn't needed to do it, you know?"

"Thought of going to the police?" Julia asked me, pulling out of the hug and looking at me with misty blue eyes. She had started crying.

"Why are you crying?" I asked her with a sigh, hugging her again and rubbing her back as she started to sniffle.

"I just feel so guilty," she muttered as I felt my t-shirt growing damp from her tears. "I should have listened to Natalie and Vaughn when they told me not to push for it so hard. You and Denny I mean. And even you yourself, you were always hesitant about it."

"Yeah, well, you're obstinate," Natalie chuckled from her seat. "It's one of your more endearing traits."

"It's okay Julia. I'm fine, see?" I told her, pulling back from the hug and smiling at her. "Nothing to worry about anymore."

"I think Julia's got a point though," Natalie said. "You should go to the police. Could get Denny charged for assault."

"I don't think so," I replied with a grimace. "No proof. The only evidence that anything went on last night are the bruises on our heads from where I head butted him and that only puts me in a bad light. Not him. It wouldn't be worth pursuing to be honest."

"So he's just going to get away with it?" Julia asked me, clearly dismayed by it. "The guy broke three hearts and no one's going to stop him?"

"Only two," I corrected her. "I was never in love with Denny."

"Well regardless, I don't think he should get away with it like that," she replied with a frown. "There must be some way we can get back at him."

I shook my head and sighed. I was tired of it all. The drama. I patted Julia's shoulder and shook my head with a sad smile. While I was angry at Denny and didn't want anything to do with him anymore, I wasn't the type to go out and seek revenge. I only wish that other people thought the same way.


	29. Revenge

**Note from the Author: **Short chapter, I know, but any longer would have been too much.

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

_Revenge_

She took him away from me.

That was what I thought as I made my way towards her farm that night. It was late; probably around three A.M. The lighter in my pocket seemed to weigh more than the can of petrol in my hand as I crossed that bridge and I paused for a moment to take in the beauty of her farm in the moonlight. A sprawling field of aubergines and yams stood proudly in neat, professional rows. They would have made Chelsea a lot of money. Would have. But I was about to change that.

Fury rushed through my veins like liquid fire as I ducked under the fence around the field. The petrol sloshed around in the can and I could smell the metallic scent of it. I could almost taste it. Revenge. I would have my revenge. I would hurt her in the same way she'd hurt me. This would drive her out. It had to. She had to leave.

Mercilessly I swung the can over the crops, dispensing petrol fluid over them. Yes. Revenge would be sweet. My only regret was that I wouldn't be there to see the look on her face. I wouldn't see the anguish. Oh, but she'd feel it. She would. She would realise what she had done and repent. Maybe even leave. If only she would leave.

Once the watering can was completely empty, I turned back to admire the field once more. Delving my hand into the pocket of my dress, I pulled out the lighter and strode to the end of one of the neat rows. I paused only for a moment before turning it on with a satisfying click and hiss. The tiny flame that danced on the end of the lighter enchanted me momentarily; it's flickering light bore the promise of the revenge that I wanted, that I craved.

Slowly, as if in a dream, I stooped down and lit one of the leaves of the plant. It burned gently for a few seconds before it latched onto the petrol sprinkled over it. Delighted and wild with excitement, I practically danced over to another plant and set fire to it too. All along the rows I unleashed my fiery vengeance and watched as my creatures of hatred swept over the plants in zigzag patterns. They grew larger, fiercer, and swallowed the fruits of Chelsea's labour in its fiery mouth.

Even now, just remembering it, I could smell the satisfying smell of smoke in the autumn night air.

I didn't linger too long after I set fire to the field. Afraid of being caught, I left the island swiftly and headed back through town down side streets so that I wouldn't be seen. Back to Sprout I went; back to the safety of my own house. That night, after creeping into bed, I slept the best sleep I had in ages.

Revenge really is sweet.


	30. Cinders

**Note from the Author: **As always, thank you for the reviews! And haha Zoey, I won't take such a long hiatus again. Not for a while anyway. I've been wanting to get this story finished for ages but never really had the inspiration to until now.

So here it is, chapter 30!

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty<strong>

_Cinders_

I woke that night to the smell of smoke. Confused and groggy, I sat upright and looked around me wildly to find where the source was but saw nothing. Realising from how strong the smell was that something was very wrong, I clambered out of bed and rushed to my window, drawing the curtains quickly as I became fully lucid. A cry of despair escaped my lips at what I saw. The entire field was alight and I watched my crops for that season go up in flames. Some of the nearby trees had also caught fire and I felt panic rising in my chest as I realised that it was very possible that my house was also on fire.

Aware of the urgency of my situation, I hurriedly pulled on some clothes and grabbed my phone before rushing out of the front door. Running away from my house until I was at a safe distance, I felt tears prickle my eyes when I looked around and saw my new home. Yes, it was on fire and yes I was powerless to stop it. I glanced over at my barn anxiously and saw that it was far away enough from the flames so at least my animals were safe, but even that did little to keep back the grief that gripped me. Falling to my knees, I began to sob out loud as I wondered to myself why I had bothered coming to the islands in the first place. Since I had arrived it had felt like an uphill struggle to fit in, maintain my farm and deal with the onslaught of dating worries that my friends had been determined to heap on me. And then there was the attempted rape. It left me tired and I felt like this fire was the last straw.

Shaking from tears and fatigue, I looked at my phone and called Julia's number. It rang five times before somebody sleepily answered it.

"Hello?"

My breath hitched in my throat. It was Vaughn. He sounded drowsy, as if he'd just woken up. This didn't surprise me since it was nearly four in the morning.

"My field is on fire," I told him without preamble. "My house is on fire too."

"Are you okay? Are you out of the house?" he asked, sounding more alert and slightly panicked.

"I'm out. I'm just sitting here," I told him numbly.

"Okay, I'm coming," he told me before hanging up.

I waited, staring at my life as it went up in flames. What had I done to deserve this? This wasn't a freak accident, right? Someone had actually started this intentionally. But who had I upset so badly that they wanted to hurt me in this way? I thought of Lanna's attack that day and wondered if maybe it was her. She had the motive. She was unstable enough. But somehow, I knew it wasn't. As the blaze continued to rage and another tree caught fire, I felt a weighty feeling on my chest as misery wrapped itself around me. This was the worst possible thing that could have happened to me.

I don't know how long it had been when I finally heard sirens in the distance and I heard the scuffle of feet as people started rushing towards my farm. I heard gasps and cries and I buried my head in my knees as I brought them up to my chest and curled into a ball. Silently my tears fell as I realised that I would have to give it all up after this. While I had made a nice amount of profit during Summer, I had spent most of it on upgrades to my barn and buying the livestock from Vaughn. I couldn't afford another season. I had been expecting the Autumn crops to see me through Winter and now I couldn't even afford to repair the damage to my house.

"Chelsea! Are you okay?!" Natalie and Julia cried out to me, rushing towards me and falling to their knees in front of me.

I looked up and stared at them long and hard. In spite of their faults, Julia and Natalie had been wonderful friends to me. They'd looked after me and guided me and worried about me in place of my own family and they'd been the support that kept me going when I'd first arrived. I felt a fresh wave of tears hit me as I realised that if I was to move back home it was likely that I wouldn't see them again. Wrapping their arms around me, my friends comforted me and stroked my hair, telling me that everything was going to be alright. I wished I could believe their words, but I couldn't. How could I? My whole life that I had built up over the past year was going up in smoke in front of me.

"Is she alright?"

We all looked up and I found Vaughn staring down at me with deep concern. He was another thing I would have to give up. Even under those circumstances, something in their air between us seemed to frisson and I felt my heart throb loudly in protest at the idea of never seeing him again.

"She's fine," Julia said, stroking my hair as I buried my face back in my knees. "I think she's still in shock."

"The fire fighters will be here any minute," Vaughn told us. I peeked up from my knees as I heard him walking away and I saw him stood near to the field, looking out at it with a look of barely contained rage. I understood why he was so angry; he had cared for those crops just as much as I had. We'd both invested a lot of time in them.

"I need to leave," I whispered to my friends, not wanting Vaughn to hear me as he got out of earshot. "I can't stay here anymore."

"What? Why?" Natalie asked, her eyes widening and her voice rising in panic. "No! I won't let you! Don't you see? Someone did this because they wanted to drive you out. Are you just going to let someone bully you like that?"

"This is way beyond bullying," I replied. "I can't afford to go on anymore. The profits from those crops were meant to see me through Winter. How am I going to survive now?"

"Chelsea, come on, you don't have to go yet. What about the bet with Mark? Are you going to just let him win?" Julia said, sounding desperate.

I snapped. "I don't care about the stupid bet! I shouldn't have come here in the first place! All I've done is make a mess of things and caused drama just by _being_ here! It would have been better if I hadn't come here at all!"

Without warning, somebody yanked me to my feet by my hand I looked up in shock to see that it was Vaughn. He glared down at me with that scary expression that I'd seen that day in Julia's bedroom when I'd first cussed at him and I flinched away instinctively. With a firm tug, he began dragging me away from my friends by the wrist, his pace brisk and purposeful. He ignored the protests of my friends and I let out a groan of frustration at the thought of them getting the wrong idea about the two of us like Sabrina had.

"Where are we going?" I asked him, trying to tug my wrist away from him but failing. His jaw was set and his eyes were alight with animosity; I wasn't going anywhere.

His grip on my wrist tightened for a brief moment before relaxing again. "To the beach."

"Why?"

"We need to talk without those two in earshot," he said, still not looking at me.

"About what?"

"Stop asking questions."

I sighed. "You're really bossy you know."

He finally looked round at me, his eyes still glowing with anger. "And you're really stupid."

"Not this again," I grumbled, rolling my eyes. "I don't think I'm in the right state of mind to deal with you right now."

"Tough," he grunted. "At least I don't have to listen to you cuss at me this time."

"What is it with you and cussing?"

I heard him growl in irritation and it stifled the rest of my questions. We walked in silence for another five minutes before we finally reached the beach and ended our frog march. Releasing my hand, he gestured for me to take a seat on a nearby rock and I did as I was told. He paced around for a minute before turning to look at me, his expression dark and brooding. It sent shivers down my spine and I looked down at my hands on my lap to distract myself from the intensity of it.

"First off, are you okay?" he asked.

I frowned. "I'm as okay as I can be, considering the circumstances."

"You've had a rough couple of days," he commented. He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair thoughtfully, never taking his gaze off me. He opened his mouth to say something but then he stopped himself and shook his head, turning away and putting his hat back on.

"So why did you drag me here?" I asked him.

"I wanted to get you away from the fire," he replied.

"Well, that much is obvious. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

He turned back to me with a frown and I frowned back at him. He just kept looking at me with a complicated expression that I didn't understand. Was it pity? Anger? I couldn't tell. All I knew was that it was aggravating and I was aggravated enough as it was.

"Look, just spit it out already," I said impatiently.

"Are you going to leave?"

I blinked. "You overheard me?"

"Hard not to when you were yelling the way you were. So are you?"

I leant my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands. "I don't want to."

"Then don't."

I looked up from my hands at him and he stared straight back at me, his eyes skimming over my face searchingly. I felt the hairs on the back of neck stand on ends and I almost forgot what had just happened. Those eyes... those amethyst depths fascinated me and I was completely entranced as we simply stared at one another in complete silence. I could feel my heart thudding loudly, almost painfully in my chest and my cheeks suddenly grew warm in spite of the cold autumn air. Fighting my feelings, I groaned in frustration and got to my feet suddenly, shaking my head. Why was I admiring the colour of Vaughn's eyes when my house was on fire on the other side of town?

"You can survive the winter on the products from the cows alone and I'm sure Gannon will fix your farm house up for you for free once he hears about the fire," Vaughn told me, his voice sounding almost as frustrated as I felt. "You're not without friends Chelsea. We're all here to help you and support you."

_We_. He included himself in the collective and I felt my despair start to lift slowly. My heart danced circles of jubilation at the fact that Vaughn seemed to really care about me. He was telling me not to leave and was trying to cheer me up. And that silence just now... Although it was wrong and memories of Sabrina's tear stained face came to mind, I couldn't help the way my heart thudded at the thought that maybe, just maybe, Vaughn liked me in the same way that I liked him. Then my conscience reared its ugly head and scolded me. What about Sabrina? What would it do to her if she found out that I liked her ex-fiance?

I heard the sirens stop in the distance and I figured that the fire fighters had probably turned up at that point. I glanced over my shoulder at Vaughn and found that he was still staring at me, but the dark expression I'd seen earlier had returned and I was worried that he was angry at me.

"Don't leave," he suddenly said, sounding almost threatening. I reared back in surprise.

"It's easy for you to ask that of me, but you don't realise how much effort it's going to take on my part to get settled again," I replied tiredly.

"Didn't I just tell you? Everyone will help you get the farm back to normal-" he began to say, but I cut him off.

"It's not just about the farm," I said. "It's about everyone on this goddamn island. The secrets, the history between everyone. I drove a girl to attempt suicide."

"That wasn't your fault," Vaughn snapped, glaring at me. "You weren't the one who dumped her."

"But I was the one who got Denny's attention. Unwanted or not, he dumped her because he claimed to prefer me over her," I argued. "I barely did anything to encourage him either. It just happened. And then there's Sabrina. She got the wrong idea about us and freaked out. I still haven't even had a chance to talk to her yet."

"None of that is your fault."

"Yes, it is!" I snapped, growing irritated with him. "I can't stay here Vaughn! Not now! I was nearly raped the night before and now someone's set fire to my farm! How can I stay here when I'm hated so intensely?"

My vision blurred again and turned away from him as tears started forming in my eyes. I hated crying in front of him. I hated him seeing me in my weakest state. I didn't want to lose his respect.

Then, just as he had done the night before, he came up to me and wrapped his arms around me. He turned me so that my face was pressed into his chest and I was hit so strongly by the whirlwind of emotions that I'd been trying to lock away that I started crying in earnest. Sobbing loudly in his arms, I let out all the misery that I'd been holding in and he comfortingly rubbed my back and held me to him. I cried for all the time we'd wasted on my farm, I cried for all the energy I'd wasted on Denny and I cried for all the things that had been going wrong in the past year. My broken relationship, my broken arm, Lanna's suicide, Sabrina's outburst, Denny's attempted rape, my feelings for Vaughn that I could never reveal. I had been holding it all in and I felt a strange sort of release at being able to cry about it.

I don't know how long I cried for. It might have been a few minutes, maybe more. After my tears started to dissipate and I felt fatigue hit me anew, I suddenly became aware of Vaughn again. I felt him stroking my hair as Natalie and Julia had done before and my thoughts were suddenly diverted by his touch. My tears stopped completely but I didn't move. I didn't want to move. And he didn't seem to want to either.

"You needed that," he said after another moment of silence. "You shouldn't hold those feelings in. It's not good for your health."

Having him so close to me was _also_ not good for my health. I placed my hands on his chest and gently pushed so that he would release me from his arms, but he didn't budge. His arms stayed firmly around me. I looked up.

"Feeling better?" he asked me gently. His face was so close to mine that if I pushed up onto my tip toes I could have kissed him like I'd been wanting to for such a long time. Almost as if his thoughts were in sync with mine, I saw him look down at my lips and he held his breath, his body tensing up.

Excitement, anticipation and panic ripped through me. I wanted to kiss him. The opportunity was there and it would have been so easy. But I couldn't. It wouldn't be right.

"No," I said, pushing harder against his chest and breaking eye contact with him. I needed to get away from him.

"No?" he asked, sounding slightly dazed.

"No," I repeated. My cheeks felt like they were on fire.

He finally released me from his arms and I took a step back, placing my hand on my chest as I tried to get my breath back. I felt winded and my heart rate refused to slow down. I glanced up at him and found him frowning.

"It's going to be difficult. Starting over again I mean," I said, trying to change the subject as well as distract myself.

"It will be," he replied, still frowning. Was he sulking?

"I just don't know if it's worth it," I mumbled.

For a moment I wasn't sure what we were talking about; my farm or what nearly happened between the two of us?

"Don't run away Chelsea," he told me. "You're better than that and you know it."

"It wouldn't be running away," I told him, but he grunted disapprovingly at me.

"Yes it would, you know it would."

I sighed. He was right. I nodded my head and looked at him begrudgingly as I said, "Fine, I'll stay.

But I have a lot of things I need to sort out."

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Denny, Lanna, finding out who burnt my farm down, getting this cast off my arm... various things really," I replied grimly. "So much drama for such a tiny cluster of islands. You'd think we're living in a soap opera or something."

"I have a feeling it's only going to get worse," Vaughn commented. I didn't want to make any assumptions, but I had a feeling I knew what he was talking about. Sabrina. I still hadn't had the chance to talk to her.

Realising that we needed to get back, we both made our way back to my pile of cinders to survey the damage. A fireboat was docked to the side of my island and I saw various firemen inspecting the damage to the house, field and trees. They shot me sympathetic glances and I sighed. There was nothing left of my crops and the trees around the perimeter of the island were singed. My house? It looked pretty bad from the outside, but it was mostly cosmetic damage that Gannon could fix easily and the inside seemed structurally sound. Once the firemen were done checking the inside of the house, I caught sight of Vaughn stooping down in the middle of the field, scooping some of the mixed ash and soil into his hand and sniffing it. He began scowling.

"Petrol was used as an accelerant. This wasn't an accident," Vaughn said.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "You think?!"

"There's no way of knowing who did it. No evidence left behind, nothing," Julia muttered with a tired sigh. "We can't prove anything."

"Fan-fucking-tastic, there's a pyromaniac running loose and we have no idea of who it is," Natalie exclaimed dryly, ignoring the look of irritation Vaughn shot at her for swearing. She took a sweeping look at the carnage before announcing. "It was Denny. It had to be. He has access to petrol fluid 'cus of his boat and he's probably mad at Chelsea for head butting him."

"No..." Julia said slowly. "Even if Denny has a problem with Chelsea, he's not likely to set her house on fire. It's too big of a risk for him. If anyone, I think it was Lanna. She _did_ attack Chelsea yesterday and she does have motive. She's not exactly been psychologically stable recently."

"Actually, you're probably right," Natalie admonished, stroking her chin. She glanced at me with her shrewd dark brown eyes and they narrowed at me, as if silently asking me who I thought was responsible.

I shook my head and refused to talk about it. I didn't want to speculate over who it was. Not yet anyway. I had other things in mind and I walked out onto the field and did the same thing Vaughn did. Scooping up some of the soil, I examined it and wondered at whether I would be able to grow crops in it again. I wasn't well versed on soil fertility and the effects fire had on it and I worried that maybe the fire may have negatively affected the quality.

"You may need to buy some fertiliser to get it back to the way it once was, but it shouldn't be too bad," Vaughn told me. I nodded and sighed tiredly as he put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Everything will be fine. I promise."

Although I questioned whether he could really promise me that, a small part of me believed him simply because he'd promised me. He'd done a lot for me over the past month, what with helping me on the farm as well as saving me from Denny, and I came to the startling realisation that had become a little dependent on him. It made me sad to think that once my cast was gone he wouldn't have to help me anymore and I'd be back to doing everything by myself.

Almost as if he had been reading my mind, Vaughn said, "I'll stick around a bit longer to help you get started again after you get your cast off."

Natalie and Julia gaped at him and my cheeks coloured.

"You don't need to," I told him, though my inner self was doing cartwheels of happiness.

"I know I don't, but I'd like to help."

"Vaughn," Julia said sharply, a warning look in her eye. "Don't you have work to do back on the mainland?"

"Dad can handle it," Vaughn replied, his voice equally sharp.

Julia continued to frown at her cousin but after a moment an expression of dawning realisation passed over her features.

"What is it?" I asked her.

She shook her head and shot Vaughn an accusing glare. "Did you upset her? What did you say to her?"

"Who?"

"You know who!" Julia spat, her cheeks growing red from anger. "Goddamn it Vaughn! I knew this was going to happen!" she raged before storming off the farm and back into town.

"I have no idea what that was about," Natalie said, raising her hands in surrender when I turned to her questioningly.

I clutched my forehead tiredly. When were people going to start telling me the truth?


	31. Mother

**Note from the Author: **Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm glad you're still enjoying it!

_Zoey_: I **do** know who it was that set the fire. I plan my story out my head and have actually hand written plans of what each chapter is going to be about. I don't like writing stories that have no true plot. Free writing doesn't work for me and I think it's one of the reasons why so many fanfictions out there are pure fluff and little else.

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty One<strong>

_Mother_

I began to worry about Chelsea after the fire. While in front of others she was all smiles and perpetual optimism, I knew that when she went home at night she would cry to herself to sleep. It was hard on her, those couple of weeks, and I wish I could have helped her more. I had never been very good at dealing with the emotions of others and I wasn't sure how to approach her, to council her. How could I after what almost happened on the beach? We'd been so close to kissing that I had been ridiculously disappointed when she said no. I hadn't wanted to kiss someone so much in my life and it left me a little frustrated afterwards.

We became awkward with each other after that. While I helped her out on the farm as much as I could, clearing away the burnt debris and fertilising her field so she could plant some winter crops, I found myself unable to think of anything to say to her. There were many times during the clearing process where I'd sensed that she had wanted to talk about what had almost happened, but her questions never surfaced and I didn't want to push the issue. I didn't want to put any unwanted pressure on her; she had enough to deal with.

Eventually the season rolled to a close and the whole town gathered to the Festival Island for the Harvest Festival where we were all expected to bring ingredient for the stew being made by Mirabelle and Felicia. I wasn't particularly keen on going, but Mirabelle cajoled me into it and I arrived on the field an hour into the event. All the usual faces were there and I felt a little out of my depth when I spotted the usual crowd of friends gathered around the pot. While Julia and Elliot were busy trying to help their mothers with the cooking, Natalie and Pierre chatted amicably with Lily and Will who had just announced their engagement. They all looked so happy – like they hadn't a care in the world. All except for Chelsea. Her fake smile that evening was brighter than ever and I could tell from her eyes that she felt the exact opposite.

"Well hello there Vaughn!" Will cried out to me when he spotted me approaching them. "Want some punch?"

"No thanks," I said shaking my slowly. "I'm not a fan of alcohol."

"Oh, it's alcohol-free!" the blonde billionaire exclaimed, holding a fresh cup out to me. "I've been instructed by my darling that I am to abstain from the consumption of alcoholic beverages for a while."

I saw Natalie and Lily giggle and Pierre grinned at me welcomingly. "Do give it a try. I mixed it myself. It's more like sangria than punch though, but without the wine."

I begrudgingly accepted a cup and awkwardly stood around looking at everyone as they all chattered amongst themselves. Almost always my eyes found their way back to Chelsea and I watched her solemnly help Mirabelle and Felicia set out the polystyrene bowls and plastic spoons for everyone. Eventually she caught me staring at her and we both flushed scarlet, averting our eyes nervously.

"I saw that," Julia murmured to me as she passed. "I thought I told you. Stay away from her."

I was about to turn and say something snarky back at my cousin when I caught sight of Denny ambling across the green and through the crowds. He was smiling pleasantly and seemed completely at ease in spite of what had happened the week before. I _really_ wanted to punch him. When I locked eyes with him he winked and I felt my fist clench. Why was he there? I looked for Chelsea again and found her staring at him with shock and horror and her mouth had fallen agape.

While Julia and Natalie had gone rigid and looked as alarmed by Denny's appearance as Chelsea was, the rest of their group greeted him as if nothing had happened. Hadn't Chelsea told anyone else? Or had she made her friends promise not to reveal it to the others? Whatever the reason, Julia and Natalie made no comment and continued with their preparations, though their expressions were strained. Chelsea on the other hand had stopped what she was doing completely and stared at all her friends greeting Denny like he was some sort of hero.

"So where's the lovely Lanna today?" Will asked jovially.

Denny shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe at home? I heard she's been drinking a lot."

Will looked puzzled. "And you're not doing anything to stop her?"

"Why would I?" Denny asked, looking equally as puzzled. "She's not my girlfriend. We just went on a couple of dates."

Lily's frowned at this and I saw Elliot glancing at Julia worriedly.

"Lanna liked you a lot," Lily said pointedly, folding her arms. "Did you hurt her?"

"No, but I heard that she hurt someone else," Denny replied. His brown eyes swivelled to Chelsea and said, "I heard she attacked you in broad daylight a few days ago. Just before the fire, right?"

Chelsea looked ashen and made no response, turning away and focusing back on what she was doing. There was an awkward silence amongst them all for a moment before Elliot cheerily said, "We're lucky it's not raining today, aren't we?"

Concerned about Chelsea, I was about to go and pull her to one side for a talk when I felt someone snake their arm through mine.

It was Sabrina.

"Hello," she said politely. I could tell from her posture and the way her eyes were narrowed up at me that she was upset about something. "Could we please talk?"

I pulled my arm away from her and scowled. "We have nothing to talk about. I don't want to get involved with your drama anymore."

"Whether you like it or not, Vaughn, you're involved. I need to talk to you about her."

"Her?" I asked stupidly, for a moment thinking it was Chelsea.

"Her," Sabrina said, stressing the word pointedly. No, it wasn't about Chelsea, it was the other _her_.

Glancing over at Julia to make sure she wasn't watching me, I gave Sabrina a quick nod and allowed my ex to guide me over to a more private grove of trees where we'd be out of sight and earshot. Once we were alone, a weight seemed to lift off of Sabrina's shoulders and her body completely relaxed, becoming more fluid and free. Slumping to the ground with her back against a tree, she sat in a heap on the floor as she looked up at me through teary eyes.

"Have you heard from her?" she asked me.

"No. Not since your rejection," I replied, taking a seat on a nearby tree stump. "She was unhappy when I told her the news. She had really hoped you'd accept the idea and go to her."

"Why doesn't she understand? I can't leave my father. He'll hunt me down. I'm all he has left. Does she really think that he'll let me go and live with her after all this time? After the effort he's put into raising me? Priming me? He expects me to take over his company when he retires, but how can that happen if I just disappear into thin air? I've already asked him if I can go to the main land to go onto further education and he won't let me. I can't go under the guise of travelling either. My hands are tied."

I sighed and took my hat off abruptly, throwing it to the ground in frustration. "You stupid woman. Why can't you just leave him? Cut ties? He's suffocating you Sabrina. You're like a bird in a gilded cage. Surely you can't be happy living your life like that?"

"You know I'm not," she replied, her voice low and soft. "I just can't. I feel like I owe him, you know?"

"But you don't. Aren't you the one that said that 'the child owes nothing to the parent, but the parent owes everything to the child'?"

"I just can't Vaughn," she replied.

I growled angrily and she stared in surprised. "Why did you pull me over here to ask me about her then? If you're not going to see her and you won't correspond with her directly, why did you bother dragging me over here to ask about her? Make up your goddamned mind for once in your life instead of letting somebody else do it for you. You need to quit bothering me. My cousin is already suspicious and she's likely to tell my dad that we're still talking and you _know_ how angry he is at you."

"I don't see why. He's not involved," Sabrina replied haughtily, her voice taking a snobbish edge like it usually did when she spoke of people she didn't like or thought were low-born.

"He's involved. Just as involved as _your_ father is," I replied angrily.

She sighed and picked a daisy nearby as she said, "It's not just about your father being angry at you, is it? It's about that girl."

"You leave her out of this," I said through clenched teeth, knowing she was talking about Chelsea. "She's been through enough drama and pain in the past week. As her friend, you should know about this. Didn't she visit you the other day?"

I felt my blood start boiling when I saw her top lip curl upwards at my question. "She came to visit. To apologise and to tell me that nothing's going on between the two of you. She explained about what happened. With Denny."

I thought I heard traces of triumph in her voice as she spoke Denny's name and it disturbed me. I knew that my ex was manipulating, but it didn't occur to me just _how_ manipulating she could be. "You didn't encourage Chelsea knowing full well what Denny's like now, did you?"

Sabrina went very still for a moment before her face fell and an expression of utter sadness replaced the sneer she'd been wearing before. "How could you think I'd do that?"

"Because you don't see her as a friend, do you?" I asked her.

"I don't have friends, Vaughn," she replied, her bottom lip trembling. "But I would never intentionally hurt someone like that."

While her behaviour was believable enough, I wasn't so sure. I linked my fingers together and lent my elbows on my knees as I stared down at her sceptically. She glanced up at me worriedly before letting her eyes fall on the daisy in her hand as she played with it, twirling it between her pale fingers gently.

"You know, Chelsea's quite loyal to you," I told her.

The effect this statement had on Sabrina was instantaneous. The fingers that had been playing with the daisy closed tightly around the flower and crushed it.

"I don't believe that," she replied impassively. "Girls like her don't befriend girls like me. They prefer to bitch and gossip with girls like Natalie and Julia. It's what they do. She probably just sees me as a desperate freak. Just like Julia does. You know, Julia came asking for me the night of the fire at Chelsea's house. She kept buzzing the intercom at our gate and was demanding to see me."

"She thinks you were responsible," I told her.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Well she's mistaken. I don't see why I'm the victim of misplaced blame. I bet Chelsea's just the same."

"I can assure you, Chelsea doesn't think like that."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "And you would know all about that, would you? Are you two really that close now?"

"She's been through a lot," I said warily, remembering the almost-kiss on the beach and avoiding Sabrina's question. "But she's the type to stick by her friends and she sees you as a friend."

A bitter smile came to Sabrina's lips as she asked, "Is that why she was staring at you like that the other day?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like she wanted you," she replied acidly. "I'm not naive Vaughn. I've seen the way she looks at you."

I made no response and just stared at my ex coldly. In spite of all the love I used to feel for her, I could safely say in that moment that I felt nothing for her. No empty longing, no bitterness, nothing. The girl I'd fallen in love with was not the young woman sitting in front of me; she'd been an illusion in my head. The woman in front of me was a complicated, volatile person that I didn't understand nor want to.

"Are we done here?" I asked rudely, picking up my hat and rising to my feet hastily.

"I suppose we are," Sabrina replied, her tone of voice becoming haughty again as she stared up at me, unmoving.

I was about to turn and leave when suddenly Sabrina lunged forward and grabbed my hand. I looked round and saw her clinging to my hand, her head hung low as she stared at the floor. I could feel her body shaking through her grip on my wrist and I knew she was crying.

"Please, give her a message for me," Sabrina said through her tears. "Tell her that I'm sorry. Tell her that I really do want to see her, but it's not possible right now. Maybe in a few years once Regis has retired."

I pulled my hand out of her grip swiftly and glared down at her as she looked up at me with tear filled eyes. "If you're going to hurt her, you hurt her yourself. I won't do it for you. Suffer the consequences for once."

"Please Vaughn," Sabrina pleaded.

"No Sabrina. Now that you know that it's definitely her and that she's definitely alive, I think you owe it to her to tell her yourself. She is _your_ mother after all."


	32. Suspicion

**Note from the Author: **Again, thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you're still enjoying it. I promise to those fans out there who are waiting with baited breath for the Velsea action that it's coming soon. Just a few loose ends to tie up.

As for the mysterious 'her' in Chapter 31; it was Sabrina's mother whom she thought was dead. My fault for making the end of chapter reference a bit obscure. x_x I'll probably go back and edit it so that it's more obvious.

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty Two<strong>

_Suspicion_

I can't describe the way I was feeling when I saw Denny on the field that day. Bile rose in my throat and I looked away immediately when I saw him smiling smugly at the way all our friends greeted him. He was silently jeering at me, I know, and I felt disgusted with myself. Had I done the right thing in keeping it secret from everyone? Could I really stand to let him get away with it? The outraged part of me wanted to shout and scream and publically shame him, but the more fragile part prevailed. I was too weary from all that had happened recently to start another emotional stand-off. I just wanted to get on with my life peacefully.

Things on the farm had started getting better once all the debris had been cleared and Gannon had fixed the exterior of the house. He, along with everyone else, was very sympathetic and offered to help out in any way he could. While Mirabelle and Felicia took it in turns to bring over dinner every night, Natalie and Elliot helped Vaughn out with the clearing process. Julia did what she did best and stuck to my side like glue, pumping boundless amounts of optimism into everything she said and did with me. It was a huge comfort but it also left me feeling pressured. I had no excuse to mope. I forced myself to smile every day, even when I felt wretched and just wanted to curl up into a ball. I had to be strong for them. They had so much faith in me and I didn't want to let that faith go to waste. The only person who seemed to see through my act was Vaughn and whenever we were alone I felt my façade dissipate almost immediately.

That incident on the beach on the night of the fire had been replayed through my head several hundred times by the time I plucked up the courage to go and visit Sabrina. She welcomed me warmly into her home at the DeLauer mansion, clutching me to her in concern as she consoled me about the fire and told me that she was sorry for storming off the way she had the other day. As she sympathised and fussed over me, having her maid serve us twee little cakes and dainty cups of tea, I felt ashamed for letting myself get so close to betraying her. Sitting across from her in her parlour in my drab clothes while she was picture perfect with her glossy black hair immaculately arranged and her pink dress smooth and wrinkle free made me feel very ugly. Not just aesthetically, but psychologically too. I felt like the world's biggest liar and hypocrite when I told her that nothing was going on between Vaughn and I.

I'm pretty sure she didn't believe me. I couldn't miss the slight clench in her jaw when the lie came out of my mouth. While I knew that I hadn't technically done anything wrong since I'd stopped it from happening, I still felt like a traitor for even feeling anything towards him. I knew I should have distanced myself from him emotionally, but it was growing increasingly hard now that he was spending so much time around me. Part of me was almost looking forward to when he would leave so that I could rid myself of those feelings.

As I watched Sabrina lead Vaughn away that day at the festival, I felt a strange sting of loneliness as I saw how good they looked together. I guess I must have let my expression slip because Julia sauntered up and put her arm around me comfortingly.

"Are you okay, hun?" she asked me, giving me a quick squeeze.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm just feeling a bit tired."

"Well hopefully the stew will make you feel better. It's just about ready and Ma and Felicia are about to serve it," Julia said brightly. She was about to say something else but stopped and muttered under her breath, "What is _she_ doing here?"

I looked up and followed my friend's gaze and spotted a familiar green dress. It was Lanna. Her big brown eyes searched the crowds until she finally spotted me and she headed towards us briskly. As she approached I took a step back in anticipation of another attack, but she surprised me by instead dropped to her knees in front of us.

"Chelsea, I'm so sorry about what happened the other day," she sobbed, her head bowed in front of me in a sign of deference. I looked around nervously to see that a few people were turning and looking at the spectacle and I saw Denny in my peripheral vision turning to watch us.

Shrugging Julia's arm off, I dropped down to my knees too and saw that Lanna was crying. Her face was red and her eyes were puffed up from earlier tears. She was pitiful to behold and I knew I had to get her out of there.

"Come on, come with me," I told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. She staggered from the suddenness and looked at me with half hopeful, half fearful eyes.

"Chelsea where are you going with her?" Julia called after us. She followed as I dragged Lanna through the crowds and after seeing the three of us leaving Natalie ran to catch up with us.

As we reached the dock, Lanna pulled her hand out of my grasp and asked me, "What's going on? Why did you drag me over here? You're not going to slap me, are you?"

I considered this for a moment and suddenly the more vindictive side of me took over. I'm not a perfect person and I'm not proud of what I did next, but I have to admit that it felt pretty damn good when I did it. Before she could react, I raised my hand and slapped Lanna hard across the face. The sound of flesh on flesh seemed to resound around us and everyone, including myself, was silent in shock.

"That's for attacking me the other day," I said quietly as Lanna clutched her cheek. "Now we're even."

Breaking into tears again, Lanna fell to her knees in front of me once more and I saw Julia and Natalie looking down at her uncomfortably. I took a seat next to the crying pop-star, dangling my legs off of the edge of the dock as she cried into her sleeves. My friends didn't follow suit and remained standing, looking concerned and confused.

"I'm so sorry I attacked you the other day Chelsea," she sobbed, her face turning into a big mess of mucus and tears. "I was just so angry about Denny that I was looking for someone else to blame and the only person I could think of was you. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You _weren't_ thinking. You were drunk," I replied.

"Yeah, I know. I've sworn off of drinking now," Lanna muttered as she wiped her nose with her sleeve.

"It's all well and good apologising about attacking her, but what about her farm?" Natalie snapped. "It's obvious that you're the one that set fire to it. No one else had the motive to do that except for you."

"You're wrong!" Lanna exclaimed, looking up at Natalie in horror. "I didn't start that fire. I had nothing to do with it!"

"Then who did?" Natalie bit back. "Who else would hate Chelsea enough to do something like that? You're the only one who could have. What if she had died? Her house caught on fire too and if she hadn't woken up then she would have been trapped in there. Don't you feel even a little bit guilty about it? Just own up to it already."

"But it wasn't me! I didn't start it! I swear to you!" Lanna cried, covering her face with her hands as she returned to her hysterical sobbing.

I saw Julia nibbling her lip thoughtfully. It was as if she knew something but didn't want to tell us and I felt déjà vu as I remembered what happened last time she kept secrets from me.

"You don't think it was her either, do you?" I asked her, my eyes narrowing. "What is it that you're not telling me Julia? Don't lie to me this time."

With a heavy sigh, Julia turned to Nat and said, "Sorry Nat, but I really don't think Lanna's responsible for the fire. I don't think Lanna's clever enough to do something like that."

"Clever? How is setting fire to Chelsea's farm clever?" Natalie asked angrily.

"Well think about it," Julia replied. "Chelsea's been working so hard on that farm all year and only someone who understood that would know that setting fire to it would be the best way to drive her out. This wasn't just a simple act of vengeance, it was calculated. No offense Lanna, but I don't think you're capable of thinking things through that far."

"How do we know that though?" Natalie asked in outrage. "We don't know anything about Lanna and what she's capable of. You saw what she tried to do to Chelsea last week. And she tried to commit suicide too! Those are things we never expected from her. For all we know, this whole crying thing is an act!"

Lanna started crying even harder and I instinctively wrapped my arm around her. She fell towards me and cried into my shoulder, her body shaking and heaving from her tears. She was boiling hot, like she had a fever, and I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt. I knew she wasn't acting and while I understood Natalie's frustration I did think that Julia was right; Lanna wasn't capable of something that vindictive.

I gave Lanna's arm a quick rub as I said gently, "I don't think you did it."

"You don't?" Lanna asked, looking up hopefully.

I shook my head with a small smile. "No. I don't."

"What the fuck Chels?" Natalie shouted. "She's behind it! I know she is!"

"Natalie, calm down," Julia said with a scowl. "Trust our judgement on this. It's not Lanna."

"I didn't wake up till lunch time the day after you punched me," Lanna admitted, her brown eyes rising to meet Natalie's. "You punch like a boy."

"It's not my fault you can't take a hit," Natalie scoffed. "Anyway, if Lanna's not the one who did it then who did? I can't think of anyone who would hate Chelsea enough to do that, except for maybe Denny."

"It's not Denny," I replied. "He's not stupid enough to do something like that."

"Well Denny's not the brightest tool in the box," Natalie said with a smirk. "Don't overestimate his intelligence."

"Sorry but Chelsea's right," Julia replied, changing the subject. "Denny's not stupid enough to set fire to Chelsea's house when too many people would suspect him."

"Then who else?" Natalie growled in frustration. "Someone started that fire on purpose. It was not an accident."

Julia sank down and took a seat next to me on the edge of the dock before turning to me solemnly and asking, "When was the last time you saw Sabrina?"

I blinked. "A couple of days ago. Why?"

"You don't honestly think it was Daddy's-Little-Girl do you?" Natalie asked in amusement. "I know she's twisted, but I don't think she's capable of arson."

I shook my head, unable to believe that Julia suspected Sabrina. "I know you don't like her Julia, but I think it's a bit farfetched to think she'd be behind it. I already told her that nothing is going on between Vaughn and me."

"Don't bullshit me Chelsea," Julia snapped angrily. "I've seen the way you two have been looking at each other recently. His eyes are all over you like wet fur on a dog and you're just the same. I don't know what happened between the two of you but I can assure you that Sabrina's not stupid enough to not see it too. There are things about her that you don't know yet."

"Then why don't you tell me?" I challenged.

She sighed and glanced at Natalie briefly before turning back to me. "I didn't want to tell you before because you thought of her as your friend and I thought you'd get angry at me for gossiping about her, but considering what's happened recently I guess I don't have much of a choice."

She took a deep breath before taking my free. "Sabrina's always been very. odd. I don't know if it's because of how her father brought her up or whether it's because she's rich, but she doesn't see things in terms of right or wrong or whether it's morally acceptable. Instead she sees them in terms of how it benefits her or what she can gain from certain situations. She doesn't want the type of friendship we have. She only sees people in terms of what she can get out of them. Money, reputation, popularity. That sort of thing. I was in the same class as her all the way through elementary school, middle school and our first year of high school and I've had a long time to see what she's really like. I tried befriending her when we were kids but she never seemed interested and eventually I gave up after seeing the way she differentiated between people," Julia explained awkwardly. She looked apprehensive and I could tell that this was probably the first time she'd ever verbalised her opinions openly. "It's like she was secretly distinguishing who she hung out with," she continued. "She only ever associated with people of age or authority or some sort of importance and avoided everyone else who didn't fit into those categories. I guess everyone distinguishes who they want to hang out with, but the way Sabrina did it always made me suspicious."

"I don't see how that all makes her a suspect," Natalie pointed out bluntly. "And I always thought Sabrina was kind of wimpy and never stuck up for herself when she was getting picked on by the boys in our class. You're making her sound like some sort of master manipulator."

"Well, you know it's all just an act. Why does she need to defend herself when she can milk the damsel-routine and have the other girls and the teachers fight her battles for her?" Julia reasoned. Natalie shrugged uncaringly and Julia rolled her eyes before continuing. "When we all moved onto high school Sabrina had become pretty popular with the other girls in our class. I'm not sure if it's because they were scared of her dad or if it was because they genuinely liked her, but she had a pretty solid group of friends."

"Her worker bees you mean?" Natalie interjected with a grin. "I swear, Freya was so far up Sabrina's ass that year. She was practically waiting on her on hand and foot."

"Oi, stop interrupting me," Julia chided peevishly. Natalie sucked her teeth irritably but allowed Julia to continue. "Anyway, that little group of friends were really close for the first month, but then things started happening. Internal conflicts if you will. It first started with Mary, one of Sabrina's closest friends at the time. You remember her, right Nat?"

"Yeah, she looked like Sabrina's clone," Natalie reminisced. "I'm surprised they weren't sisters to be honest. They both looked so similar to one another."

"Yeah, well, that's the thing. Their aesthetic similarity is what caused the two of them to fall out. There was one incident at a parents' evening where Regis mistook Mary for Sabrina and gushed over the scores on the test papers she'd been holding. Sabrina hadn't done so well in that test and when Regis realised his mistake he was visibly disappointed. Sabrina was very upset by the whole thing and at school the next day Mary's school desk had been inexplicably removed from the classroom and put away in the storage cupboard as a sort of prank. After that it just got worse; Mary's books went missing, her bag was dumped in the school fountain, she was late to tests which she'd been misinformed the time of. Just little things like that. All those things seemed to pile up and by the end of the first semester Mary was a nervous wreck and started getting home schooled."

"Was Sabrina behind all that?" Natalie asked in wide eyed amazement. "I thought it was just one of the boys playing a cruel joke."

"I can't say for certain that Sabrina was behind it, but Sabrina ignored Mary whenever they were together after the parents' evening and it's not a coincidence that all their mutual friends started ignoring her too," Julia replied with a frown. "Shortly after Mary left the school, another one of Sabrina's 'friends' started getting bullied too. Karen was the prettiest girl in their group and got a lot of attention from guys, which I'm guessing caused Sabrina to be jealous of her. I don't know the exact details but from what I've heard, a false rumour got started that Karen had been two-timing two guys at once and one of them was the boyfriend of her best friend, Freya. Karen quickly got branded as a slut and ended up moving to the mainland with her family after someone spray painted 'filthy whore' on the front door of her house."

"I always thought it was Freya who did that," Natalie commented.

"It was, but who do you think egged her on?" Julia asked.

"This is all very circumstantial," I butted in with a scowl. "Rumours and gossip don't necessarily mean that Sabrina was behind it all."

"No, I know it doesn't, but it's all very suspicious that it all happened in and around Sabrina's sphere of influence," Julia reasoned. "The last of Sabrina's 'victims', if that's what you want to call them, was Carol, the owner of the hotel near Sabrina's house. I'm not sure what Carol did to piss Sabrina off, but one day Sabrina complained to a teacher that her watch had gone missing during one of our P.E classes. Another of Sabrina's friends then claimed they saw Carol going to the changing rooms at one point and the teacher ordered a search of Carol's bags. Needless to say, they found the watch and Carol was suspended from school. Carol always claimed that she never stole the watch and that someone set her up and I believe her; she had always been a good girl and she was more than wealthy enough to afford a watch just as nice as Sabrina's. Anyway, after hearing about Carol's suspension, Carol's parents went round to the DeLauer mansion and spoke to Regis about what happened. I'm not sure what they told Regis but whatever it was angered him enough to make him ship Sabrina off to a mainland high school for her junior and senior year."

I wasn't sure what to make of all that Julia had told me. At face value it just seemed like vicious gossip that was fuelled by Julia's obvious dislike of Sabrina in general. However, I couldn't help wonder if maybe it was all true. What if Sabrina really was as secretly vindictive as Julia claimed she was? Was it possible that Sabrina had seen through my lies about Vaughn and was trying to drive me out in order to keep Vaughn to herself? Had she thought of me as a threat all along? The whole idea upset me and I didn't want to accept it. I shook my head disbelievingly.

"No. I don't believe she would be like that," I said. "You make her sound positively evil."

"I'm not saying she's evil," Julia replied hastily. "Just that she's not the perfect person you seem to think she is. She's like Denny; her outer persona is fake."

The story of Denny and Sabrina's relationship sat on the tip of my tongue as I wondered whether to tell my friends what Vaughn had told me about them. My promise to Vaughn was the only thing from stopping me and I bit my tongue when I remembered that I had sworn to him that I wouldn't tell anyone else.

"I always did think Sabrina was quite odd," Lanna commented quietly as a cold sea breeze swept over us. "She was quite friendly to me when we first met, but one day she just stopped talking to me and pretended I wasn't there. When I tried to grab her arm to make her face me, she slapped my hand really hard with a book she was holding and told me not to touch her with my 'filthy hands'. It was really bizarre."

I raised an eyebrow. "She told me that her dad told you to stay away from her."

"Well, she was lying," Lanna replied with a frown. "She doesn't need her dad to do that for her, she did a pretty good job of doing it by herself."

My brow furrowed and rubbed my temple tiredly; I was confused and my brain hurt with all the information I had learned in that short space of time. I looked down at the plaster cast over my arm and gently pulled at some of the stray threads on the edge. I was relieved that I would be going back to the mainland the following day; I needed Ellie and Trent's advice more than ever.


	33. Unhappy Reunion

**Author's Note:**Hi guys! Sorry about the delay with updates! Real life stuff etc. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter – it took a long time to write it. Although I really want to jump into the Vaughn/Chelsea romance already, I can't do it just yet for plot reasons! This is more of a development chapter for Sabrina, since she's fast becoming one of my favourite characters in the story because of her multifaceted personality. So yeah – hope you enjoy! And thank you for waiting patiently!

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty Three<strong>

_Unhappy Reunion_

Early the next morning I packed my bags and headed over to the dock to wait for the ferry back to the mainland. The winter winds were bitingly cold and I could tell from how thin the air was and how the heavy the clouds were that snow was on the way. I stared out at the seas as they tossed and turned in much the same way I had the night before; I hadn't slept well from thinking too much and my eyes were shadowed from fatigue.

"Chelsea?"

I turned around and to my surprise I saw Sabrina standing behind me with a flowery suitcase in her hands. She was wrapped up warm in a thick cotton coat and wore a pair of pink knitted mittens on her hands. She looked forlorn and sad almost, her smile forced and her eyes as shadowed as mine. I didn't say anything for a moment and merely looked at her. How could she be as vicious as Julia said she was? Standing there in front of me, she looked so genteel and fragile. Was it even possible that she'd been the mastermind behind everything that had happened to me?

"Hey," I finally said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she replied, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she set her suitcase down on the dock. "I'm going to the mainland to see someone. What about you?"

"I'm going to the hospital to get my cast taken off. My friends are going to meet me at the dock on the other end and take me there."

"Oh." Sabrina pushed her glasses up her nose before asking, "Do you miss it? Home?"

I took in a deep breath and sighed. "Sometimes, but after living here for a year I realised that I love the simplicity of being a farmer. It might sound strange, especially coming from someone like me, but I really do enjoy it." I paused and glanced at Sabrina. "I was heartbroken by the fire."

As I had half-dreaded, half expected, a flicker of emotion passed over her features. For a brief moment I thought I saw guilt in her eyes. She looked down at the floor and her expression cleared, replaced with an impassive look that I realised was her way of hiding what she was feeling. That reaction... did it mean that she had something to do with the fire? Wary of her, I remained silent until the ferry arrived and when it did we both boarded and took seats in one of the inside cabins. I accidently sat a little too close to her when I sat down and she shifted away from me, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. I apologised lamely and she said it was fine, but I could tell from her expression that she was still irritated by it. I thought back to what Lanna had said about the way Sabrina had reacted when she'd grabbed her arm and I felt the seed of doubt inside me begin to take root.

"So who are you going to see?" I asked her once the ferry had pulled away from the dock.

"A family member I haven't seen in a long time. I have some questions to ask them," Sabrina replied, looking out of the window thoughtfully. "I've been wanting to see them for a while but never got the courage to do so until now."

"Because of your dad?"

She shook her head. "No, he doesn't even know that I know where she is. I kind of snuck out this morning without anyone noticing."

"Won't your dad be angry?"

Sabrina then did something I hadn't seen her do before. She sneered. Her top lip curled upwards nastily and her eyes narrowed. I suddenly got the mental image of her showing that same snarl to all those girls that Julia had spoken about and a cold chill went up my spine. "I don't really care anymore."

Without thinking I asked, "What were you like in high school?"

Slowly, as if she had been expecting that question, Sabrina turned her dark eyes on me and looked me straight in the eye. "Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity."

She rolled her eyes upwards before saying, "Let me guess, Julia finally decided to tell you all about my apparently sordid past."

I looked away in embarrassment, feeling ashamed that she had seen through me so clearly. "She told me gossip. I don't usually like believing gossip, even if it's a good friend that told me. I like to hear the other side of the story before I judge someone. You seem like a good person, so I didn't want to believe it."

"Well Julia's half right about her suspicions about me," Sabrina replied, still staring at me with an unfathomable expression. "I'm not going to lie and say I didn't have a hand in the mistreatment of those three girls, because I did, but I'm not the Regina George-like figure that Julia likes to portray me as. I wasn't the puppeteer who pulled the strings, by any means. I was just going with the flow, like most teenage girls do at that age."

I nodded slowly. "So what _did_ you do?"

"I'm guessing she told you about Mary, Karen and Carol specifically. Well, with Mary that was mainly my fault, admittedly. I hated her after the embarrassing incident with my father and I bitched about her quite vocally to my friends. What my friends did after hearing it was beyond my control. Those mean things that happened to her weren't done by me directly but I believe my friends maybe have been influenced by what I said and I do feel guilty about it. With Karen, I didn't start those rumours. I listened to Freya bitching and made a few comments about how Karen dressed, but that was it. As for Carol, I had absolutely nothing to do with it. My watch really did go missing. If it wasn't Carol, as she kept proclaiming, then it might have been one of my other friends trying to play a prank on her. I was blameless in the whole affair, in spite of what my father and Carol's parents thought."

As strange as it may sound, after hearing her explanation my doubts about Sabrina ceased. Even though Julia's suspicions had seemed plausible at the time, I couldn't help but believe what Sabrina had told me. Although I knew Sabrina wasn't completely guileless, she seemed to be telling the truth and judging from the stern way she was looking at me I could tell she wasn't trying to hide anything. She had admitted to at least having a minor involvement rather than flat out denying it like someone with a guilty conscience would have.

"I believe you," I said gently.

Sabrina was startled by it. "Really?"

"Yeah. Besides, you're my friend after all. I'm not going to judge you just because of a little bitching coming from one of my other friends, especially since Julia's naturally got a grudge against you because of what happened with Vaughn. I'm sorry for questioning you about it, but I just wanted to get the story straight in my own mind before all my doubts ate away at me. I don't like having things like that on my chest; it's not good for the soul."

"What's wrong with you?" Sabrina suddenly asked, almost sounding disgusted. "You're not normal."

"Huh?"

"Why do you believe me over her? Isn't she meant to be your best friend? Aren't best friends meant to believe each other implicitly?"

I grimaced at her. "Just because we're best friends, doesn't mean I'll believe everything she says. Everyone has moments where they're misguided or their judgement is clouded. It's what makes us human."

"You're weird," Sabrina said. The way she said it sounded offensive, but I didn't take it rudely since I was reeling from Sabrina's sudden change in attitude. Gone was the fragile aura that I had first seen on the dock and it was replaced by a different one completely. She was still the same girl as before but her tone of voice and her expressions were different. Somehow she seemed edgier, more cynical and she didn't seem in the slightest bit shy like she had been earlier on the dock.

"You're pretty weird yourself," I replied, trying not to smile when she suddenly looked confused. "I can't tell which of your different personalities is the real one. I get the feeling that you're acting half the time I'm talking to you."

Sabrina's face fell and she looked away, her cheeks growing red. "I'm not acting."

"Not now you're not!" I exclaimed. "But you were earlier, before we had this little conversation. Or maybe you don't realise it yourself."

By this point Sabrina had gone completely red faced, her ears growing red too. She glanced at me nervously before mumbling, "What's wrong with you? You're just like him."

"What?"

"Never mind! Forget I said anything."

Sabrina remained silent for the rest of the boat journey, pointedly looking away from me and not making any eye contact at all. Her whole body sat turned away, her arms folded and her legs crossed in the opposite direction. She made it quite clear that she didn't want to talk anymore.

When the ferry finally docked, she shot to her feet and marched off without a word, claiming her bag from the luggage rack and racing towards the gang plank. I followed her at a more leisurely pace, watching in amusement as she stomped across the wooden plank and nearly tripped up when she got to the end. Seeing her act in such a way was so bizarre since I had always thought of her as being such an elegant and ladylike person, and I nearly burst out laughing when I saw her bump into an old man who was stood waiting on the dock with a couple of other people. As the silver-haired old man turned around, I felt my heart skip a beat in surprise when I saw that it wasn't an old man. It was Skye!

"Watch where you're going!" Sabrina snapped at him as he helped her right herself. She snatched her arm out of his grasp before turning to look up at him. The moment she did she froze and the colour drained from her face as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Hey beautiful, don't let such raw anger steal your beauty," Skye said with a charming smile that made me cringe. Where on earth did he get those corny one liners from?

"Wh-Who are you?" Sabrina asked, completely stupefied.

After crossing the plank I gave Ellie and Trent a small wave. Trent smiled while Ellie practically pounced on me. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me in for a hug before releasing me and giving me a once over. "No broken bones this time?"

Before I could reply, Skye scooped me up and spun me around in the air with a childish grin as he exclaimed, "Chelsea-baby! I haven't seen you in forever! I've missed you!"

"Put me down you twot!" I shrieked at him, as the bags in my hands went flying and landed at Sabrina's feet while she stared at us in total shock. Eventually Skye complied, dropping me to my feet but keeping his arms firmly around me.

He reached up and pinched my cheeks affectionately as he said, "You've grown even prettier since I last saw you. Have you lost some weight? Are you eating properly for once? Or maybe it's because you're having amazing sex with farmer boys? Whatever it is, you look gooorgeous."

"Ch-Chelsea, who is this?" Sabrina asked me, handing me my bags.

"Oh, Sabrina's here too?" Ellie asked, peering over Skye's shoulder at Sabrina.

Sabrina went red. "Hello again."

"Trent, Skye, this is Sabrina DeLauer," I said, introducing her.

While Trent looked uninterested, Skye's emerald eyes regarded Sabrina with an unwholesome amount of interest. Sabrina must have seen it too because she shied away from him and pretty much hid behind me as the two men peered at her, greatly reminding me of a child hiding behind it's mother when meeting strangers.

"Sabrina looks like someone I know," Trent suddenly said.

We all turned to look at him in surprise. "Oh?"

"She looks like another doctor that works at the city hospital. I only saw her a couple of times but they looked exactly the same; though Sabrina looks a little paler and has darker hair," Trent explained, looking at Sabrina with interest. "Do you know Christina Regison?"

From what I could remember, 'Regison' was Will's last name. It also happened to be the maiden name of Sabrina's mother. While I myself was confused by the whole situation, Sabrina looked even more so. Her mouth and eyes were both wide open in surprise and she stared up at Trent as if he'd started talking a completely different language. Eventually she regained her composure and she gave a short nod.

"Christina Regison is a relative of mine, yes," Sabrina replied, her eyes falling to the floor demurely. "I actually came to the mainland so I can see her."

"Well, we're going to that hospital anyway and I'm pretty sure she's on duty right now. Do you want to join us or do you have to meet up with her somewhere else?" Trent asked, gesturing to the parked car nearby.

Sabrina hesitated for a moment and glanced at me questioningly, as if asking for my permission. I smiled at her and gave her an encouraging nod, causing her to beam at me brightly in a way I hadn't seen her do before. She turned back to Trent with a shy smile. "Yes please, I would be very grateful if you could give me a lift there."

"Okay, great," Trent said, before offering to help her with her bags while Skye pretty much yanked mine out of my hands.

As the guys helped deposit our bags in the trunk and Ellie climbed into the front passenger's seat, Sabrina lagged behind with me a moment. She gripped my arm and forced me to face her as she said, "Who is that man?"

"Who?"

"That man who just picked you up and started spinning you around?"

I glanced over at Skye, knowing what she was thinking. "He's not a relative of Vaughn's, if that's what you're thinking. They just have the same genetic oddity."

"Is he your ex?" Sabrina asked suspiciously.

"No, he's a good friend, but nothing more than that."

"He's kind of... weird," I noticed that Sabrina was blushing and I had to resist the urge to slap my palm against my face in frustration. "Does he have a girlfriend?"

I shook my head with a frown. "He doesn't have on singular girlfriend; he has many. He's not into relationships, so don't get any ideas. He'll break your heart if you give him half the chance."

Sabrina's act suddenly stopped and she glared at me. "You want him for yourself don't you?"

Once again amused by her switch in personalities I tried not to laugh as I replied, "No. Skye's charm disgusts me a little."

She made a face at me. "He's really handsome – I would have thought you'd like a guy like him. Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

"Everything apparently. Anyway, let's get in the car before we freeze to death."

I ushered her into Trent's car and she squeezed up next to Skye as I clumsily tried to get in after her. It was a tight squeeze with three of us in the back but since Sabrina was so small that we managed to fit anyway. Once we were all safely ensconced, Trent started the ignition and pulled away as Ellie turned around to look at me.

Since getting back together with Trent Ellie looked jubilantly happy and was practically glowing. Although they hadn't set a date for their wedding yet, I had a feeling it would probably be in Spring since I knew that Ellie had always wanted to be a spring bride and have her wedding when the spring blossoms were out. We had gossiped over the telephone about her plans and visions for the wedding and she had sounded so happy with it all that I hadn't had the heart to tell her about what had been happening on the islands since she'd left. How could I invade that happy space she was in with my own personal problems? Of course, I knew I would have to tell her eventually, but I figured it would be better telling her face to face. However, after seeing her in person I felt my resolve to confide in her ebb away.

"How have you been?" she asked me with a cheery smile.

I smiled weakly and said, "I've been better."

"Why, what happened?"

"I'd prefer it if we could talk about it after I get my cast off," I told her.

"Aww, it's something that me and Trent-o-Dent can't hear?" Skye whined, leaning forward so he could look at me. "That's a shame. I wanted to catch up on all the gossip and find out all about this gorgeous man Ellie kept telling me about. She said he was one of those dickishly-handsome types – a bit like Mark, I suppose."

Panicking, I glanced at Ellie and saw her grimace at her mistake. Of course, Ellie hadn't realised that Sabrina would be with us, but I couldn't help my inner-rage that her mouth had landed me in it again. I shot Sabrina a quick glance and saw that her expression had remained blank – I took this as a bad sign and sighed.

Ellie then tried to cover for me. "Skye, Denny doesn't look at all like Mark. He's probably better looking, if I remember correctly."

"Denny?" Sabrina asked, arching an eyebrow upwards. She turned to me. "You didn't tell them?"

"Tell us what?" Ellie asked, looking between Sabrina and I curiously.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I didn't want to tell Ellie yet. Not like this. Not with Skye, Trent and Sabrina listening.

"A lot has happened since you left Ellie," I began slowly. "I just didn't want to tell you because you've been so excited about the engagement and everything. I didn't want to... you know... ruin it for you with all my problems."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "I'm your friend Chelsea. You can tell me anything; you know that. Rain or shine, I'm there for you. But if you don't want to tell me now, I understand - especially since big-ears over there will make inane comments otherwise."

"I resent that," Skye replied, folding his arms. "My ears aren't that big."

"Yes they are. That's why you grew your hair long!" Ellie snorted.

"That's not the reason! I grew it long because girls like guys with long hair!"

"Well _I_ don't!"

"Pfft! Trent's hair is pretty long Ellie, it just sticks up in different directions."

"It's cute like that though! And at least it doesn't make him look like he's trying to be a rock star."

"Trying? Honey, I _am_ a rock star. Women loooooove me."

"Or so you like to think."

"Admit it Ellie, you fell for me the moment you saw me. So did Chelsea. That's why you both stayed friends with me for so long."

"How on earth would we fancy someone as obnoxious as you? We keep you around because you're fun to laugh at."

"You're just jealous because Trent doesn't look like me."

I sat watching my two friends banter with a deadpan expression before remembering that Sabrina was listening as well. She sat watching the two of them back and forth like a spectator at a tennis game and eventually her blank expression was broken by traces of laughter, her hand coming up to cover her mouth so she could stifle the giggle. Upon hearing her, Skye and Ellie stopped bickering and Skye did something very rare; he blushed.

"I think I understand you a little better now Chelsea," Sabrina said to me quietly, a cute little smile on her face. "You're weird because your friends are weird."

"You can say that again," I said with a wry smile as Skye turned to look out of the window while Ellie grinned at the both of us.

When we reached the hospital we all got out of the car and Skye helped Sabrina with her bag while I left mine in the trunk. Taking the opportunity to chat with her whilst the rest of us were distracted, Skye wrapped his arm around Sabrina's shoulder and asked quietly, "So your name is Sabrina, huh?"

"Yes," she replied, looking away nervously. She tried to shrug his arm off but it didn't budge.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Has anyone told you that you look like Audrey Hepburn?" he told her in a low, sultry voice. "I used to have a huge crush on her as a kid by the way."

Ellie linked arms with me as we both watched him work his magic charm on Sabrina as he walked on ahead of us. I was honestly quite surprised that he had the nerve to start trying to flirt with her after she'd heard everything he'd said in the car.

"Sabrina better watch out, Skye's going on an all out offensive with her. I haven't heard him pull out the 'beautiful name, beautiful girl' line for a while now; though I suppose it doesn't help that I haven't seen him in a few months. You know, he just turned up on mine and Trent's doorstep a couple of nights ago, asking if he could crash with us for a while. Just like that. No phone call or preamble."

"That doesn't surprise me. Where's he been all this time?" I asked her as we walked through the hospital sliding doors. She shrugged unknowingly in response.

As we entered the hospital I was hit by the sudden smell of anti-sceptic and I remembered the last time I was there. Vaughn's hat came to mind and I tried not to smile as I recalled the memory fondly. Ellie caught me struggling not to smile and nudged me, almost as if she had been reading my mind. "So what's going on with Vaughn?"

"I don't really want to discuss it in front of her," I said with a nod in Sabrina's direction.

"But look, she's got Skye all over her right now. There's no way she's going to concentrate on what we're saying when Skye's all up in her grill like that. I mean look at her, she's gone as red as a tomato," Ellie said pointedly. I glanced at Sabrina and saw that she was right; Sabrina's whole face had gone curiously red and she was having a hard time making eye contact with anyone while Skye had his arm draped over her shoulders.

"That's going to end badly," I said with a frown as Skye leaned in close to Sabrina's ear and whispered something.

Ellie blinked. "What is?"

"Skye being like that with her. I don't want Sabrina getting hurt," I replied.

"Well you better tell Skye before he gets the wrong idea about her." I agreed with her, but decided to leave it until later when Sabrina was out of earshot.

As Trent and Ellie booked in my appointment and ushered me into one of the treatment rooms, Skye waited with Sabrina in the waiting room as they buzzed the doctor that Sabrina had gone there to see. I didn't see what happened after that, since the door was closed, but once my cast was off I hurried back outside in time to see Sabrina wrapped up in an embrace with another woman with light brown hair. I could just about see Sabrina over the woman's shoulder and she was crying.

"What's going on?" I asked Skye who had saddled up beside me.

"No idea," Skye replied, nonplussed by the whole thing.

When the woman finally pulled away from the hug, I gasped when I saw that she looked exactly like Sabrina. Or Sabrina looked like her. The woman was older, but I could clearly see the strong resemblance between them.

"Is that your mom?" I asked. Wait, wasn't Sabrina's mom supposed to be dead?

They both turned to look at me. Sabrina was still crying and the woman was smiling, obviously overjoyed at the reunion. "Yes, I'm Sabrina's mother. Are you one of her friends?"

"Yeah," I replied a little dumbly, looking from mother to child and back again. The resemblance really was striking; while Sabrina had jet black hair like Regis, her mother's was mousey brown with sun-streaked blonde highlights. Both wore glasses and both had delicate, doll like features and they were both about the same height and build. Just from looking at Christina I was given a pretty accurate view of what Sabrina would look like in another twenty years and I wondered in a moment of madness if maybe Sabrina was a genetically altered clone of her mother.

"Thank you for bringing her here," Christina Regison said, smiling gratefully at me. "And thank Vaughn for me too."

I blinked dumbly at her. "Vaughn?"

"Yes, he's the one who helped me get in contact with my daughter. He's been my go-between with Sabrina for the past couple of years and he sought me out first, hoping for us to reconcile. It's all thanks to him that Sabrina plucked up the courage to come and see me today," Christina explained, playing with her daughter's hair and looking at her affectionately.

I was surprised to see that Sabrina's expression was blank. Although tears rolled down her cheeks and her nose was slightly pink from crying, her face was completely devoid of emotion; even her eyes.

"Stop putting up a front," I suddenly blurted out. I didn't know how but I knew that Sabrina was hiding behind that facade I'd noticed earlier. The moment she heard me her eyes flashed and her features began to slowly rearrange themselves into something that resembled a scowl.

"Keep your nose out of it," she replied threateningly, her voice low and quiet.

Christina looked startled by this and pulled away from her daughter a fraction. "Sweetheart? What's wrong?"

"Don't call me by that disgusting name," Sabrina snapped at her, whirling round angrily. Christina flinched and I saw fear in her eyes as she stared down at her daughter. "You left me. For twenty years you left me with that man. You selfishly left me behind with that psychopath while you ran off to follow your dreams instead of looking after me like a proper mother should. You have no right to address me in such a familiar manner after all you did to me."

"Sabrina, I-"

"No. I don't want to hear your pathetic lies. I didn't come here to have a joyful reunion with you. I came here because I wanted proper answers. Answers about why you left, why you abandoned me with him. Do you know what happened to me after I left? How father treated me? He practically caged me. In memory of you, he kept me locked up in that big mansion with only the maids to play with because he was scared I'd do what you did and run away. So tell me, why did you leave me?"

"I wanted to bring you with me Sabrina, really, I did. But Regis wouldn't let me. Regis said that he wouldn't let a daughter of his be raised in some sub-standard school by a struggling single mother. He told me that you'd be better off with him, that he'd take care of you. He has all the money, after all. Your grandfather, my father, cut me off from the family fortune when I left Regis and I couldn't afford to support you in the way that your father could," Christina explained. She looked crestfallen by her daughter's obvious grudge against her, though I felt very little pity for her.

Sabrina pushed her mother away roughly, her eyes narrowing. "You should have known what would happen to me when you left me with him. You knew better than anyone what he was like."

"My darling girl," Christina said, tears coming to her eyes as she tried to reach out to her daughter again. Sabrina flinched out of her grasp, her face screwing up in pure anger. "I'm so sorry Sabrina. I'm so sorry for leaving you behind. But at least you were strong enough in the end."

"What?" Sabrina spat. "Strong enough?"

"Well, look at you. He didn't break your spirit," Christina said, wiping her tears away and sounding almost proud. "You're standing here today, arguing with me so passionately. It's like I'm looking at a mirror and seeing myself when I was your age. He didn't break you like he almost broke me. You were strong enough to withstand it, just like I was."

Unable to contain myself any further, I took a step towards Sabrina and put my hand on her shoulder as I said, "Stop trying to absolve your guilt by claiming that Sabrina was strong enough all along. As a mother you had a responsibility to fight for your child, but you didn't."

Sabrina went rigid and she turned to look at me, her eyes wide and uncomprehending as I stared back at her mother. I have no idea what possessed me to step in at the moment and you probably think that I'm a bit of a busy-body for getting involved, but I couldn't just sit by and listen to Sabrina's mother try to cast aside the blame for what happened. Although I had grown up with a stable family and loving parents, I could sympathise with what it felt like to be tossed aside by someone who wanted to follow their dreams; Mark had made sure of that.

The announcer overhead went off suddenly. "Paging Doctor Regison, paging Doctor Regison. Please report to operating room 6 immediately."

Christina looked anxiously at us for a moment before muttering morosely, "I'm sorry." She then turned around and left the waiting room, her white doctor's coat billowing behind her as we watched her leave.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Sabrina turned back to me with misted tears. She looked just as vulnerable as she had that day in the library when I'd overheard that conversation she'd had with Vaughn and I instinctively opened my arms to her. Without hesitation she fell towards me, crying into my shoulder as I glanced over at my friends. They were all silent and stony faced.


	34. Claws

**Author's Note: **Hello again everyone! I'm back again! I've had some IRL issues to contend with which pretty much killed off my muses for all my stories (both fanfic and non-fanfic) so I had to take a break from writing for a bit. Among other things, I broke up with my boyfriend and made a life changing decision to go to Japan to teach English for a year! So very exciting!

But anyway, I'm back with another chapter for this story. It's not my best, but I enjoyed writing it because I finally found my Chelsea!Muse again. Hope you enjoy! I'll have another chapter up as soon as my Vaughn!Muse wakes up...

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty Four<strong>

_Claws_

After Sabrina's mother had disappeared, I wasn't sure what to do. While the other patients bustled around us and cast curious glances our way, I held my friend cautiously as she sobbed into my shoulder. My shirt became wet with her tears. As she cried, I patted her back lightly, unsure of what to do or say to comfort her. What _could_ I do? I was responsible for Sabrina's outburst and I felt my guilt eat away at me when I caught the disapproving frown that Trent had thrown in my direction when Christina had hurried off.

"Hey," I said finally, trying to extract myself from her vice-grip. "We should go somewhere else."

The state her face was in would have made me laugh if I didn't feel such an overwhelming amount of pity for her. Her eyes were puffy, her nose was red and her cheeks were salty from tears. It was genuine emotion I was seeing and I felt slightly relieved that they weren't simply crocodile's tears; Julia's words had definitely gotten to me and I felt even worse after I realised that I was being suspicious of her in such a situation.

"I have to go home," Sabrina mumbled, wiping her face with the back of her hand. A strand of her hair stuck to her wet cheek and I reached up absent-mindedly to pluck it away. She flinched back automatically, as if I was about to hit her, but she relaxed when she realised what I was trying to do. "Sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it," I replied, though I was a little concerned at reaction. Why would she think I was going to hit her? What had caused her to be so wary of me? Of people in general? "Look, I'm sure Ellie and Trent won't mind if you come with us back to their apartment. They have a spare bedroom there and you can stay there while I sleep in the living room with Skye."

Upon hearing his name, Sabrina's dark eyes slid from me to Skye and then back again. Her expression went completely blank for a moment, as if she was trying to decide what to do, but eventually she gave me an abbreviated nod. "Okay."

I looked over my shoulder at Ellie and she gave me a silent nod. Like me, she couldn't leave a distraught girl alone, even if she was meant to be my 'rival' for Vaughn.

The five of us left the hospital and headed back to the apartment in silence. None of us seemed to know what to say and even Skye struggled to get a conversation started, instead opting to stare out of the window. There was no way he could continue to put the moves on Sabrina after seeing what had happened at the hospital – even _he_ wasn't that insensitive.

When we arrived at the apartment, Trent let us in and Ellie led Sabrina and I to the guest room with Skye trailing along behind. As she flicked the light to the room on, I was impressed to see that Skye had done a fabulous job of making it look like a bombsite in such a short period of time. Clothes were strewn everywhere and there were packets of crisps and coke cans lying on nearly every surface. It looked like a room at a frat house.

"You're a pig," I said to Skye as he plonked himself down on the bed and flicked a scrap piece of paper away from him.

"No I'm not. Pigs like to roll around in their own filth," Skye retorted, staring up at me with come-hither eyes.

"Yes, I can see that," I said, looking around at the room pointedly. I turned to Ellie and asked, "How long has he been here now?"

"Two nights only," Ellie said, folding her arms. "And it's already looking like his little shithole back at uni."

"Aww, don't worry El, I'll clean it up before I go," Skye said with a pout. "Promise."

Having remained silent since the hospital, Sabrina suddenly said, "I can't stay in here."

Skye took offense. "Why? It's not that bad."

"Your boxers are just... lying there," Sabrina replied, waving her hand at a pair of his underpants that were limply hanging off of the bedside lamp. "I just can't, sorry. I'd rather stay in the living room with Chelsea; at least I'd know it's clean."

Ellie beamed at her. "I'm glad you think so! I spent ages trying to keep the apartment clean for Chelsea's arrival. Anyway, let me go and get you some blankets so you can sleep out there with her. I think it's best we leave Skye in here for now."

Sabrina nodded mutely and we followed Ellie out, leaving Skye in his room as he got a call on his phone. I closed the door shut behind me and turned back to Sabrina who had taken a seat on the black leather coach in front of Trent's widescreen television. In front of us, on the glass coffee table, were dozens of wedding magazines and I fought back to the urge to face-palm as I realised that those magazines probably brought back painful memories for her.

Remaining silent, Sabrina picked up one of the magazines and opened it in her lap, slowly flicking through the pages and gazing at the beautiful wedding dresses. I took a seat next to her as she came to a page where the photoshoot had taken place in a barn and I saw her smile slightly, her hand tracing over the image with feather lightness.

"Vaughn wanted us to hold our wedding like this," she said.

I peered down at the page and the first word that came to mind was 'tacky'. Get married in a barn? I don't think so. Even after becoming a farmer and getting down and dirty with farmyard animals, I still wouldn't even consider holding my wedding in a barn.

"Right," was all I could say in response, trying my best not to sound too snobbish at the idea.

"Yeah, I wasn't sold on the idea either," Sabrina replied. "I wanted a church wedding with a few people and he wanted a big wedding in a barn. We were at odds with each other about almost everything, it's a wonder we didn't break up earlier."

"Opposites attract?" I suggested.

She smiled. "Something like that, yeah." She then turned to me and said, "I regret what I did to him. He's a good man."

"Yeah, he is," I agreed with a smile.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?" she asked me.

My smile fell away and I sucked my back tooth before saying, "No, I'm not."

"Liar," Sabrina said with a smile. "You're in love with him. It's pretty obvious."

"Then why did you bother asking?"

She tilted her head to the side. "I wanted to see what you would say." She closed the magazine and tossed it on the glass coffee table as she said, "I appreciate that you don't want to hurt my feelings by admitting it to me, but you don't have to hide it any more. I know. I've known for a while actually, probably before you even realised it yourself."

Ellie suddenly reappeared with a pile of blankets and chucked them at us with a wicked grin, "There, that should keep the pair of you warm." She took a seat on the other side of me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders before asking, "So what were you talking about?"

"Nothing important," Sabrina said placidly, smiling warmly at her. Although I thought I was just being paranoid and she was simply trying to avoid the subject for Ellie's benefit, I felt like it was a verbal slap aimed at me. My feelings for Vaughn were 'nothing important'.

"Well it's good to see that you're feeling better," Ellie said. "It must have been quite a shock, seeing your mother and all."

Sabrina shrugged her shoulders rigidly. "My father was right about her. She's utterly selfish."

"Everyone is selfish to some degree," I commented.

"Oh, so now you're sticking up for her?" Sabrina asked accusingly. "After encouraging my argument with her, you've decided to switch sides and defend her. Just what do you think you're playing it?"

"I'm not trying to defend her; I'm just saying that we all have some aspect of our personalities that are selfish. We all have our selfish moments where we put our own wellbeing before others - it's human nature," I replied with a frown, annoyed with how aggressive she'd suddenly become. "And the reason I stepped in is because I knew that you were acting. You were putting up that front I was talking about before. You would have regretted it if you hadn't spoken your mind like you did."

"How do you know?" she spat back, her face momentarily becoming that ugly scowl again. I felt Ellie flinch beside me when she saw it. "You don't know anything about me or my family, so don't presume to know what's best for me when you don't know the first thing about me!"

"Hey, hey," Ellie said, realising with some panic that a fight was about to break out. "Chill guys."

I couldn't react. I knew she was right and I knew that I shouldn't have interfered, but I'd done what I thought was best for her. I didn't want to see her acting her way through her relationship with her mom. At the time, I'd had no idea how much resentment she bore towards her mother, but after hearing Sabrina's side of the story I pitied her and was glad that I'd broken through her act. I thought that maybe Sabrina thought that this was for the best too, but she clearly didn't. She would have been quite happy just pretending that everything was okay.

As I thought about this, I began to wonder if the beautiful heiress approached all her relationships in this manner. Her friendship with Denny, her engagement with Vaughn, her enmity with Julia and her relationships with her friends from school; there was always something wrong in all of them. At first I thought that situation and time had caused the rifts between her and the people around her, but I was beginning to slowly realise that the problem didn't lie with external influences; it lay with Sabrina herself. It occurred to me that I didn't really know Sabrina at all – everything I'd learned about her was mainly what I'd discovered. She'd never really given me any real insight into herself as a person and I realised what was holding her back all this time.

"You fake everything," I said, unable to stop myself as this realisation hit me. "Even your friendship with me is fake."

Sabrina glanced at Ellie before saying, "No, it's not."

"What are you talk-" Ellie began to say, but I frowned at her and she went silent.

"Yes, it is," I said turning back to Sabrina. "You were so nice to me in the beginning and I thought I could trust you, but that was naive of me, wasn't it? You never really liked me from the start."

Sabrina's whole body went stiff as she battled with herself. Her pale face was set into a scowl and her mouth twitched as she struggled to hold back what she really wanted to say. Now that I'd called her on it, she was finding it hard to maintain the persona that we were used to seeing and she knew that I saw through her for what she really was. After a long moment, she sighed and she folded her arms across her chest moodily.

"You're just like him," she said. "Like Denny I mean."

"What?" I asked, totally stunned that she'd brought him up.

"Denny saw through me right from the start," she said, glancing at her nails as she leant back into the sofa. "When I met him during that second year of high school, he told me to drop the act I was playing and just be myself around him. I did as he asked and then the moron fell in love with me after that. He's got a very strange taste in women; he seems to like girls that are damaged. I think that's probably one of the reasons he went after you in the first place. You were still recovering from your break-up and it was giving you all that energy to build your own farm. Your emotional pain was like an aphrodisiac to him really."

"So you knew what he was like all along?" I asked. "You encouraged me to get involved with him, even though you knew he was like that. How could you do that to me?"

Sabrina looked up at me from her nails with sharp, cold eyes. "I knew he would mess around with your head; but I didn't expect him to go ahead and try forcing himself on you. He must have been quite desperate."

Ellie grabbed my arm. "What is she talking about? When did Denny force himself on you?"

I yanked my arm away from he. "He tried to rape me."

"What?"

"Denny tried to rape me when I told him that I didn't want to date him anymore. Lanna tried to commit suicide because he broke up with her for me and when I told him about what happened, he didn't seem to care. He was just so... heartless. So I told him that I didn't want to see him anymore and that's when he tried to force himself on me," I said bitingly, glaring at Sabrina who looked amused at my anger. "I should have listened to Natalie when she warned me against him. I should have never listened to _you_."

"Hey, don't blame me," Sabrina said with a nasty smile. "I wasn't the only one egging you on."

"But you _knew_ what he was like!" I shouted, causing her to jump.

"Okay, yes, I knew that Denny was a bit of a heartbreaker -I thought that maybe he'd distract you from Vaughn if he paid you enough attention- but I didn't know that he was going to try and rape you. He's never done something like that before," she replied scathingly. "And besides. You got away in the end."

"Yeah, because I nutted him and because I literally bumped into Vaughn!" I exclaimed. "I was scared for my life!"

"Yeah, well, you can't blame your bad choices on me," she replied, no longer perturbed by my increase in volume. "You chose to date him, not me."

"You hate me, don't you?" I asked, unable to hide my disgust.

She looked away doubtfully before saying, "I don't _hate_ you. I'm just not sure if I like you very much."

"Well you can get out of my apartment then," Ellie said, rising to her feet. "The only reason I agreed to let you stay here is because of Chelsea, but if you're not her friend then you can take a hike. She doesn't need a bitch like you for a friend anyway."

"Wait a minute El, I'm not done yet," I said, reaching up and grabbing Ellie's hand to calm her down.

"I wasn't lying when I said I don't hate you," Sabrina said. "You see, the thing is, when I was a kid I'd always wanted a friend like you Chelsea. Someone honest and pretty and who seemed to actually care about me. When I first met you at the dance rehearsals for the Harvest Goddess festival I thought you were lovely and I wanted to be your friend so badly. I begged my dad to kit the library out with books on agriculture and gardening and I hoped you would come in even just once to see them."

Ellie sat back down and I asked, "So what happened to change that?"

Sabrina smiled bitterly as she said, "Julia brought Vaughn along as your partner for the dance."

"So that's why you were smiling that day," I said as I remembered it.

"What?"

"That day at the dance, you were smirking at us when we had to do the slow dance."

Sabrina's expression darkened. "Everything changed after that. I knew that Vaughn would end up becoming attached to you. He and I are the same, you see. We're drawn to people like you. That's when I realised that you were a threat."

"A threat?" I repeated in disbelief. "You saw me as a threat?"

"He belongs to me," Sabrina said simply.

"He doesn't belong to anyone," I replied, my nails digging into my palms. "Don't talk about him as if he isn't a person. It's his decision who he ends up with, whether it's you, me or someone completely different. He knows his own mind and he has the right to make it himself without having you dictating it to him."

She sneered and rose to her feet. "You don't know anything about him."

"Well neither do you," I said, also getting up so I could stare her down.

"I guess this is it then," Sabrina said, heading to the door and taking hold of her suitcase. "We're not friends anymore."

"We were never friends," I said. "You made sure of that."

She smiled and opened the door, pulling out her phone as she quickly added, "Oh, and that fire? That was me too."

After that, she walked out of the apartment and closed the door shut behind her, leaving both me and Ellie completely speechless.


	35. Issues

**Author's Note:** Thanks so much for the support guys! I was grinning to myself after I read your reviews. I'm sorry for making you wait so long! Hopefully you'll enjoy the story arcs I have lined up for Chelsea. I had fun coming up with them from scratch since I pretty much had to scrap all my previous outlines because the ideas had gone stale in my head. Anyway, hope you enjoy this next chapter and thank you for waiting! I really want to finish this story, so hopefully I don't run out of steam again. x_x

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty Five<strong>

_Issues_

It was still dark when I headed over to Chelsea's place that morning. With her staying with her friends for a couple of days, I made it my mission to do as much work around the farm before she got back. I wanted to surprise her. While I couldn't comfort her the way her friends back home could, I figured that the best way for me to support her was to help try and restore the farm back to its original glory. Even though she had managed to balance the acidity of the soil in her fields by spending most of her savings on expensive fertiliser, she hadn't had much time to plant the buckwheat seeds she'd bought and there was still plenty of work that was still left to do on repairing her farm house. Gannon's efforts had greatly helped in securing the structural integrity of the building, but the panelling outside was still slightly charred from the blaze and there were still bits of burnt wood lying around.

When I reached the farm, I pulled out the set of keys that Chelsea had given me and headed into her house to retrieve the packs of buckwheat seeds she'd bought. As I let myself in, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on ends as I caught a whiff of her scent that had been left behind. I stood still for a moment, looking around the darkened house as I savoured it. The smell of her surrounded me almost torturously and it took a moment for me to regain my senses and remember why I was there. Annoyed with myself for being so affected by the mere smell of her, I took the seed bags from the storage chest near the door and headed back outside so that I could plant them.

It was strange being on the farm without her being somewhere nearby. It was by no means the first time she'd left me alone there, but I felt slightly lonely when I looked over at her unoccupied farmhouse. It's embarrassing for me to admit it, but I missed not having her _there_. It was a fact that I was reluctant to admit to myself as I sprinkled the seeds over the soil. I'd never wanted a woman so much in my life and it irked me to no end that I had grown so attached to her in such a short space of time.

Before I met Chelsea, I'd never had much trust in women - not even Sabrina. I guess it all stemmed from my overall history with women in general. My mother left my father when I was four, walking out on the pair of us without saying anything. She left no note, she said no goodbyes; she just left. Although now I understand her reason for leaving, I was devastated when my father told me that she wouldn't be coming back. Already quite introverted from being an only child, I further withdrew into myself after her departure. Sad and lonely, I grew up watching my father bringing home hundreds of different women, all of which never seemed very genuine in their attention towards me, further compounding my problem. By the time I entered high school, I'd grown so mistrustful of women that I tried my best to avoid them and ignored them whenever they tried to become close to me. I was eventually peer-pressured into dating a couple of girls, but I could never really empathise with them in the way that they wanted me to and they moved on quickly to my more receptive friends.

As the years passed and I graduated from school, I began to realise that something was missing in my life. Working with my dad kept me busy, but I couldn't help but wonder if my mistrust in women was unfounded. That was when I met Sabrina. She was utterly beautiful and seemed to personify purity in a way I'd never seen in a woman. It's corny, but I was smitten with the _idea_ of her. Although I knew in my heart that she probably wasn't as innocent as I thought she was, I forced myself to fall for her and by the time I realised that she had issues, I'd already found myself too attached to her to end it. I accepted her flaws, but quickly lost my trust in her. It didn't really surprise me when she called the engagement off and I promised myself that I would never trust another woman again. They were too much trouble and required too much energy to deal with.

And then I met Chelsea.

In spite of my misgivings about her, she proved to be the one I'd been waiting for. As I watched her over the course of the year I saw that _she was_ the ideal that I'd wanted Sabrina to be. Although she wasn't particularly innocent, she was genuine and loyal to a fault and my initial physical attraction to her was quickly joined by my emotional attraction to her.

With a sigh, I finished seeding the field and headed back to the tool shed to pull out the watering can. The sun had slowly risen into the sky, weakly burning through the thick clouds overhead and casting its grey light over the islands. As I reached the shed, I noticed a dark figure heading across the bridge towards the farm and I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open when I saw who it was.

"Mr. DeLauer, what are you doing here?" I asked Regis when he came into earshot.

Regis was wrapped up tight in his black cloak and he glanced around the farm with a look of disdain. He was clearly out of his comfort zone and his eyes looked shadowed from lack of sleep. "I'm looking for you of course."

I pushed the brim of my hat up. "And what do you need from me?"

The older man's eyes narrowed and his eyebrow twitched. "Where is my daughter?"

"What?"

"Where is my daughter? Sabrina. Where is she? She disappeared yesterday morning and I haven't heard from her yet. What have you done with her?"

I scowled at him. "I don't know where your daughter is. Why are you even asking me anyway? Why would I know?"

"Because she's attached to you of course," Regis snapped, his top lip curling upwards into that ugly sneer that his daughter had inherited. "She's been obsessed with you ever since I found out about your... relationship. I figured that she finally decided to try running off with you."

I scoffed. "Are you joking?"

"Of course not. Why would I joke about something like that?"

"Because it's been years since Sabrina and I were involved with one another in that way. I've tried my best to avoid her as much as possible, Mr. DeLauer," I replied. "So I really don't know where she is."

"I don't believe you," Regis quipped back defiantly, taking a step towards me. Regis was about the same height as me and was probably one of the few men on the island who could actually make me feel even vaguely threatened.

I clenched my fists in preparation to defend myself and held my ground as I growled back, "I don't care if you don't believe me. I have no idea where your nutjob daughter is, so get out of my face."

"Nutjob? My Sabrina isn't a nutjob!" Regis snapped, a small glob of his spit hitting my cheek. "How dare you?"

"How dare I? Excuse me sir, but your daughter _is_ a nutjob. Clinically. Which reminds me, when was the last time you took her to see her shrink?" I asked through gritted teeth, reaching up and wiping the spit off of my skin with unconcealed disgust.

Regis blinked mutely a couple of times before he said stiffly. "A few months ago."

For the second time that morning, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on ends – but it wasn't a pleasant feeling this time. "Are you kidding me?"

Guiltily, Regis stepped back and half turned away from me as he said, "She's been... resistant. She insisted that she was fine and that there's nothing really wrong with her."

My eyes widened in horror. "And you believed her?"

"She seemed fine," he said with a slight shrug. "I've been too busy recently, so I was relieved that I didn't need to keep bringing her to see Dr. Schulmann. Those visits were costly in both time and money."

"Regis, you and I both know that Sabrina has a problem," I began to say, but he stopped me from saying anything further by whirling around and pointing his finger at me.

"You don't understand anything about Sabrina's problem!" he snarled. "Someone like you wouldn't understand what she's gone through."

"And you do? You just let your daughter run around without her meds? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? Not just for her safety, but for the safety of the other people on these islands," I said, my chest heaving angrily. "Regis, your daughter is a diagnosed sociopath."

"She's not a sociopath!" he yelled back at me. He paused, trying to regain his composure before saying more calmly, "It's called Anti-Social Personality disorder."

"Do you even understand what that _is_?" I asked him.

"Of course I know what it is! Dr. Schulmann told me everything about her condition when I first took her to get looked at," Regis replied uncomfortably.

"Okay, then tell me what you remember about the symptoms of 'Anti-Social Personality Disorder'," I said. "I bet you can't even remember them."

"I remember the main one. Lack of conscience," Regis replied solemnly.

"And do you even know what's been happening on these islands the past few months?" I asked him accusingly, putting down the watering can and folding my arms across my chest. "Your daughter manipulated her friend into dating a sexual deviant and she's also one of the suspects in the arson of this very farm property that we're standing on. Did you even know that? Did she even tell you what she's been up to lately?"

His moustache twitched and he glanced over at the farmhouse before saying, "Is there any proof that she did it?"

"Does there need to be?" I asked. "Consider her history, Mr. DeLauer." I was referring to the rumours that Julia had told me and he clearly knew what I was talking about.

"My daughter is not a monster," Regis replied, his eyes flashing angrily. "You and everyone else on these islands seem determined to demonise her at every angle without even considering that she had nothing to do with these things."

"Chelsea could have died in the fire on this farm, Regis."

His jaw clenched and he glanced back at the farmhouse. "That girl Chelsea... She's supposed to be Sabrina's friend. Why would Sabrina do something like that to her?"

"I don't know," I replied quietly, knowing that Regis would quickly realise the reason.

"It's because of you, isn't it?" he asked me. "You're the reason she turned on that girl, aren't you?"

"Your daughter's psychopathy has nothing to do with me."

He sneered at me and glanced at the newly seeded field as he said, "Sabrina turned on that girl because of you. You're clearly involved with her and Sabrina got jealous over it."

"Regardless, most normal women don't set fire to other people's homes," I snapped back defensively. "If you can't be bothered to look after Sabrina and make sure that she'd getting the care she needs, then let her go and live with her mother. Christina at least has the medical expertise to deal with her and make sure she gets help."

"That stupid bitch doesn't care about her daughter," Regis snapped, turning back to me with burning eyes. "She abandoned us."

"No, she abandoned _you_," I replied scathingly. "You drove her away with your oppressive behaviour."

"How would you know?!" he yelled, stepping towards me and grabbing the front of my shirt.

"Because she told me!" I thundered back, glaring straight back at him.

He went rigid. "You spoke to her?"

"Yeah, and I told your daughter where to find her too," I said. "I told Sabrina to go and see her and decide for herself who she wants to live with. She at least deserves the right to choose which hell she has to live in."

"You fool," Regis said, letting go of my shirt. "My daughter loves me. She wouldn't leave me."

"She loves your _money_," I said. "Money equals power and all people with her condition thirst for power like a vampire thirsts for blood. That's why she stays with you and does as you say. Not because she loves you or cares for you as a person, but because she wants to make sure she gets her inheritance when you eventually die."

"If she's so power obsessed then why did she fall in love with someone as pathetic as you?" he retorted.

I chuckled. "Because she wanted to control me. And now she's hellbent on making sure I don't get involved with someone else because she thinks she'll lose that control."

Regis rolled his eyes. "You're nothing to her. She could marry princes or millionaires. What would she gain by maintaining control of you?"

"That's a question that you have to ask her yourself," I replied. "Now, if you're quite finished, I have work to do."

"You still haven't told me where she is," he said petulantly.

I shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I would check with her mother, or maybe even ask that fisherman that lives on the beach near your mansion. He's another of your daughter's victims."

"What?" Regis looked utterly disgusted.

"Denny might have a better idea than I do," I said, stooping down to pick up the watering can. "I don't think you should worry too much though. The smell of your money will bring her running back eventually."

I turned away and headed to the outside tap so I could fill up the watering can as Regis turned to leave. I listened to him grumbling to himself as he headed back towards the bridge and I couldn't stop myself from smiling when I realised that I had come dangerously close to having him as a father-in-law. I can't even imagine what my life would have been like if Sabrina had decided to go ahead with the marriage; I probably would have been reduced to a hallow shell of myself.

It was as I was replaying my encounter with Regis over in my head that I remembered how easily the old man had accused me of being the reason behind Sabrina's behaviour. As I recalled his words, I realised that he was right. I turned the tap off and stood stock still as I finally came to the conclusion that all the hardships that Chelsea had come across were probably an indirect result of my growing friendship with her. If I had kept away from Chelsea as I'd first told myself I would, Sabrina's behaviour wouldn't have escalated to arson and Chelsea wouldn't be struggling the way she was. I was the reason for everything that had happened to the woman I loved.

As I looked across her ravaged farm I was overwhelmed with guilt.


	36. Monster

**Author's Note: **Thank you for the reviews guys! You have no idea how much they encourage me to keep going. Like, seriously. And thank you for saying that Amy, I still have a long way to go before I get to publishing quality though. XD I'd love to get published some day, but I have a problem with not being able to finish what I start writing, so hopefully this will be the break-through story. However, considering it's length, it'll take me a while... (So many unresolved issues, ugh.)

Anyway, here's the next chapter. I wasn't actually sure if I should include this or not, but I thought I might as well. Since this is kind of like a filler chapter, I decided to post it up in conjunction with 37. I'm on a bit of a roll this weekend, so I'm going with it while I have the inspiration and it's fresh in my mind.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Thirty Six<strong>

_Monster_

I had just arrived back on Sprout Island when my phone suddenly rang. I pulled it out of my back pocket as I stepped onto the dock, brushing my curly out of my face as I hit the answer button and raised it to my ear. "Hello?"

"It's me," the voice on the other end said.

My heart leapt in my chest and my grip on the phone tightened as I recognised the voice immediately. A whole range of emotions were awoken after hearing her and I lost my voice for a moment as I tried to regain some semblance of control over myself. It had been such a long time since she'd actually spoken to me directly and I found myself feeling like a giddy school boy all over again.

"I need you to pick me up from the dock on the mainland," she said eventually, having grown impatient with waiting for me to respond.

Oh... My heart sunk as I realised the reason for the call. She needed something from me. Of course... I swallowed hard and took a deep breath before asking as defiantly as I could, "Why should I?"

"Because I own you," she said impetuously. "Come and pick me up Denny. I actually need you for once, so come and make yourself useful."

Fucking bitch, I thought hatefully. She knew how much influence she had over me, even after all that time, and she wasn't afraid to abuse it. I hated her with every fibre of my being and for a brief moment imagined picking her up and then throwing her overboard somewhere in the middle of the ocean. I could almost hear her screams of distress and her last floundering moments before I was dragged out my fantasy with a jolt.

"Denny," she said, her voice laced with venom. "Are you going to come and get me or not?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll come and get you," I said, my own voice filled with anger.

"Good, now hurry up," she said before hanging up.

I stood listening to the dial tone for a minute, wondering why I did exactly what she wanted. Why was I still submissive to her even after all that time? What was it about her that I just found so irresistible?

I had wanted her from the first day I saw her. It wasn't her beauty I was attracted to, nor her wealth or intelligence. None of the obvious things attracted me in the slightest. While my buddies at school were quite happy to focus on the shallow reasons for liking a girl like her, I liked her for something that was well hidden. It was well concealed and almost imperceptible to normal people, but I spotted it as soon as she walked into the classroom on that first day of term.

With her jet black hair let down and her school uniform pristine and smooth, she walked into the classroom with her eyes lowered while she clutched a book to her chest. She was doll-like, with skin as fair and smooth as porcelain. The effect she had on the class was pretty much immediate. Almost as if she were radiating some sort of aura, everyone paused with what they were doing and turned to look at her. She looked very much like a stereotypical victim with her eyes downcast like that and I was about to dismiss her as such until her eyes rose for a brief moment. Quite by chance, her eyes met mine and I felt as if I'd seen into her. Through her.

Strength. In that moment when our eyes met I saw through the façade she'd put up and saw a resolute, undeniable, unbreakable strength. Her presence did things to me. I was both intimidated and fascinated while everyone else seemed to write Sabrina off as just another 'daddy's girl'. They gossiped about her unexplained transfer and rumours circulated about how she'd been pulled out of her previous school because she was being bullied, but I knew that it wasn't true. I continued to watch her and as she began to slowly interact with the other girls in the class I noticed little things about her behaviour.

Everything was a carefully calculated act. She was very still and sparse with her body movements, which only further emphasised the movements that she _did _make. The way she spoke, the way she held herself; it was very regal. Somehow you felt like you needed to please her. It wasn't like it was a command – not like a spoilt brat who straight up tells you that you're there to serve her, but there's something natural about that feeling you feel when you're with her. You just couldn't help but fawn over her. Even now, I still feel the dull ache in my chest when I look at her.

I sailed to the mainland as fast as my boat could go. Overhead the clouds had darkened threateningly and I could taste the promise of rain in the air as I pulled up to the dock and spotted her standing behind the security railings. The wind swept around her almost magically, causing her molten black hair to sway and dance like it had a mind of its own. She was wearing a black swing jacket which further contrasting with her pale skin and I could feel her eyes boring into me from afar. My heart thudded painfully in my chest at the sight of her and I seriously considered ploughing my boat straight into the dock to kill her. My sanity prevailed however and I brought the boat round before dropping anchor and tying it to the dock as she headed over towards me.

"You look like shit," she said to me as she lightly stepped onto the boat and tossed her suitcase down onto the deck. "Bring it into the cabin."

I remained stood on the top deck, glaring down at her as she turned to stare up at me challengingly. _I'm going to kill this bitch one day,_ I thought to myself as I headed down to the lower deck and picked her suitcase up. I was just about to march into the cabin when she suddenly grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

"Denny," she said, her voice softening. I felt a throb from my loins as she looked up at me imploringly, her hand on my wrist sliding up my arm. Her hand stopped at my shoulder as she leaned into my ear and said, "Put it in the back, away from where you keep the fishing nets. I don't want my clothes smelling like you."

She let go of me and turned away to find a seat towards the back of the boat, leaving me reeling from the insult. I felt numb as I went to do as she said, my ears ringing as I heard her singing to herself. I didn't recognise the song she sang, but I could hear that it was French; a language she knew I couldn't understand because I'd decided against learning it in school. I'd decided to learn Chinese instead.

"Do you like it?" she asked when I got back onto the lower deck.

I frowned, ignoring her as I unbound the boat from the dock and pulled the anchor up. She giggled at my reaction and continued to sing in French as I climbed back up to the top dock and started the engine up again. I revved the engine unnecessarily to drown out the sound of her voice as we pulled away from the dock, but I could still hear her voice clearly cut through the air around me. I got goosebumps from listening to it. How could someone so twisted sing so beautifully?

The singing suddenly came to a stop and I glanced over my shoulder to see her climbing up the steps towards the top deck. Her hair fluttered behind her and her cheeks had grown rosy pink from the cold.

"Give me your coat," she said, reaching out and tugging at my jacket roughly. "I'm cold."

My grip on the steering wheel tightened as she tugged insistently like a child. I tried to ignore her, but she began making whining noises and I eventually grabbed her hand and put it on the steering wheel. Understanding immediately, she took control of the wheel as I shrugged my way out of my jacket and passed it to her. She grabbed it greedily, letting go of the wheel immediately and causing the boat to sway unsteadily. I grabbed the wheel again, shooting her a dirty look as she shrugged her way into the coat and buried her nose into it, smelling it with a blissful smile.

"Why are you smelling it? I thought you didn't want to smell like me," I said above the roar of the engine.

She glanced up at me with a wicked smile. "I didn't say that you smelled bad, did I?"

I rolled my eyes and turned away as she took a seat behind me. Freezing cold, I once again found myself imagining ways to kill her and I think she must have finally sensed the mood I was in because she suddenly asked me, "Why did you give it all up?"

"Give what up?"

She tutted. "You know what I'm talking about."

"No, I don't," I said monotonously. "Enlighten me."

"You gave up all that money, all thatfinancial security... for me," she said. "What were you thinking? Are you mentally deranged or something? Did your mother drop you on your head as a baby or something?"

She was picking a fight with me. Like always, she was trying to see how far she could push me before I finally turned around and lashed out at her. She liked trying to push my buttons. I guess it's sort of like how children sometimes like to poke sticks at wild animals out of curiosity about how they'd react. She saw me as unpredictable and exciting, which is why she liked to see how I reacted to her insults. When I'd first discovered what she was really like I would turned around and punch the wall beside her or grab her really hard and yell at her. Over time, I'd developed more self control, though her insults didn't hurt any less.

"Filthy masochist," she said, only half-joking. "You know, you've been useless to me ever since we graduated from high school. The only reason I kept talking to you was because of how popular you were with everyone. For some reason they all loved you. Now look at you, you're a smelly fisherman with no money and no self-respect. How can you even call yourself a man?"

"I can drop my pants and show you how," I told her darkly.

She snorted. "Wouldn't be much to see I bet."

"Wanna test that theory?" I said, glancing over my shoulder at her.

Her lips curved up into a smile, her eyes glittering mischievously, but I could tell that she wasn't completely serious. Her eyes had narrowed slightly and her smile wasn't a full one, which I took to mean apprehension. She was toeing the line and she didn't want to cross it just yet.

"So why did you really do it?" she asked me, her tone sounding more serious this time. "Why did you give it all up?"

The wind dropped and I slowed the boat down. "Are we really getting into this?"

"Yes, we are," she replied. "So, tell me."

I stopped the boat completely and dropped anchor. As it hit the seabed, I turned to her and said, "Why do you _think_ I gave it all up?"

"I find it hard to believe it was because of little old me," she said, feigning modesty. "I mean, you came from a good family and everything. Your dad was ready to give you his business, but you turned it down and went to live with that good-for-nothing uncle. What was that fake story you told everyone? A fisherman's son? I wonder what your father must have thought when he found out."

"My dad didn't approve of you. He knew all about Regis DeLauer and his damaged daughter. He was one of the board directors at the school you know. He knew all about what you did to those girls in our class. So he made me choose; my fortune or you. I made my choice," I said simply. "I'm sure you understand how _that_ feels."

Her smile dropped a little. "I did as my dad told me to."

"Yeah, because you didn't love Vaughn enough to give it all up."

She looked away, her brow furrowed. She knew that I was right and she wasn't sure how to respond. She went very still, as she usually did when she was deep in thought, and her mouth twitched when a bird overhead cawed loudly.

"I don't know what love is meant to feel like," she said finally. "My doctors said that I may never know what it feels like. Sociopathy isn't something that can be cured apparently. I'm convinced there's nothing wrong with me, but everyone keeps saying that I'm damage, that I'm not right in the head. So it must be true, mustn't it?"

"You're not a sociopath," I replied. "I don't believe that. Damaged, yes, but not a sociopath."

Dark eyes turned to stare at me unfathomably. "How can you say that after all I've done to you? After what I did to all your friends? I don't feel guilty about it. I enjoyed doing it in fact."

I smiled. "Because I don't think you were born this way. I think the way your father brought you up is the cause. I studied psychology for a reason you know."

"You seem to be doing a lot of things for me."

"Unfortunately, yes."

"You're pathetic and weird," she bit out, her cheeks growing red. "What's wrong with you? All I do is hurl abuse at you and you follow me around like a deranged puppy just waiting for his next spanking. I'll never love you; it's not in my nature to love. I've already told you that. And yet you still come when I call you. You're already useless to me now that you've been disowned. No money, no prospects. Even Vaughn has more to offer me now. Can't you see that? You should go and kill yourself. You're a waste of space. Totally. Fucking. Useless."

My temper flared up and my hand shot out, grabbing the front of my jacket aggressively. She hissed angrily, like a startled cat, her eyes narrowing up at me as I pulled her towards me. I wanted to kiss her and I wanted to strangle her at the same time. It wouldn't have taken very much to kill her right there. We were out in the middle of the ocean and by the time her body floated to shore she'd be unrecognisable. Nobody would ever have to know.

"I gave it all up because I'm the only one that can fix you," I told her.

She didn't like what she heard and she tried to push herself away, her face screwing up into that ugly scowl that she'd inherited from her father. Not wanting to see that horrid expression, I did what I wanted to do. Before she realised what I was doing, I brought my hand to the back of her head and pulled her towards me.

"What are you-" she said, but was stopped from saying anything further as my lips pressed against hers.

Her struggle became even more violent at this and she thrashed in my arms as I wrapped them around her, keeping her in place. Having learned from my experience with Chelsea, I grabbed a handful of her hair so that she couldn't headbutt me. Slowly, as I held her to me and kissed her, she began to stop struggling. Her lips, which she'd initially pursed in disgust, began to relax and her body seemed to melt into me.

Something inside my chest roared triumphantly as she began to return my kiss and tangled her hands in my hair, pulling me to her as if she wanted to devour me. My mind reeled and rejoiced and cried all at the same time. Was I dreaming? Had she really just relented to me? Would she return to what she was like before the kiss? It made me not want to break free from her, but I eventually pulled away to look down at her.

Her eyes were slightly glazed, as if she was in a daze, and her parted lips were slightly swollen from the kiss. She said nothing and stared up at me in wonderment and confusion.

"I'm going to fix you," I said to her, relaxing the hand that was in her hair. "I'll love you to death if I have to."

Tears sprung to her eyes and she raised a hand up to stroke my face. "But then who will fix you?"


	37. Contact

**Chapter Thirty Seven**

_Contact_

I was in a state of shock after hearing Sabrina confess to being the person who set the fire. I had defended her and thought of her as a friend for so long that I couldn't believe that I'd been so thoroughly hoodwinked by somebody. Was I too trusting? I had been warned about her but chose to ignore those warnings, blinded by my loyalty towards someone who wanted nothing more than for me to disappear. It was probably the first time I'd ever been truly hated by someone and it wasn't something I was prepared for.

"Chelsea?"

I was broken out of my reverie when Ellie came into the bathroom to check on me the next morning. Stood in front of the mirror, I stared at my reflection. My eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep and my face looked gaunt from not eating properly. I'd lost my appetite since the fire and it showed.

"Are you okay honey?" Ellie asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I forced myself to smile. "I'm okay. Just a bit sleepy."

Pulling the toilet seat down and sitting on top of it, she stared up at me as she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't really have anything to say," I said tiredly as I reached up and pinched my sallow cheeks. "I've never thought myself naive before, but clearly I'm not as sharp a judge of character as I thought I was."

"I don't think you're the only one she fooled," Ellie consoled.

"I know for a _fact_ that I'm not," I replied. "But it doesn't change the fact that I had blindly defended a girl that was plotting my downfall almost from the very beginning of my knowing her. I ignored Julia when she kept trying to warn me and I went against my better judgement because I felt the need to defend her. I even pitied her because of what happened with Vaughn."

"Yeah, but that's one of the reasons why you're my best friend," she said with a faint smile. "Your loyalty and belief in your friends are just two of your positive qualities honey. Don't beat yourself up over it. We wouldn't love you half as much if you weren't like that."

I sighed and rested my hands against the sink. "She could have killed me."

"Yeah, but she didn't. You lived and survived the fire. As for Denny, well, he'll get what's coming to him eventually," Ellie said dismissively. After Sabrina had left I had finally explained what had happened on the islands after she'd left. She was outraged at Denny to say the least, but she agreed with me that it was for the best that I hadn't told everyone what had happened.

"You know, I can't even wish him bad luck now," I told her. "He's one of her victims too and I can understand why he's so twisted now that I know what she's really like. Anyone would change for the worst if they were in constant contact with someone like her."

"You're too forgiving," Ellie replied unsurely. "I wouldn't be so forgiving if it were me."

"I just hate the drama," I said tiredly. "I never realised that I'd be so surrounded with bullshit after moving out there. If anything, I thought life would be simpler."

"That's the thing about small towns; everyone is connected somehow. You studied social anthropology, so you should know that human relationships are never simple." She got up and pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly with all the strength she could muster. "I missed you Chels and I want you to be happy, but you can't give up." She pulled away and pinched my nose as she said, "And you _were_ happy there. I've never seen you so happy and vibrant as you were when I visited you. Julia and Natalie are great girls and I'm so relieved you've got friends like them to look out for you. So don't give up at this last hurdle; don't let Sabrina drive you out."

As always, Ellie's words of support had healing properties on my soul. As I stared into her honest face, I felt my strength and determination slowly return. Just like that day when I'd first made the bet with Mark, I found her approval and encouragement empowering. I wondered at how lucky I was to have a friend like her and I quickly pulled her into another hug, struggling not to start blubbing as I realised that I wouldn't have got to where I was without having her support. It's no wonder that she went on to win the Patient's Choice Award at the National Nursing Association award four years in a row after moving to Mineral Town with Trent. It was almost impossible for people not to recognise just how supportive she was of the people she cared for.

Afterwards, we clattered out of the bathroom together just as Skye was leaving his room. He was wearing just a pair of his leather pants and was completely shirtless as he raised a hand to stifle a yawn. When he spotted us he smirked and asked, "Girly time in the bathroom?"

"Of course," Ellie said, draping her arm over my shoulders. "That's why girls always go to the bathroom together."

"Skye, go put some clothes on," I said with a frown. "You make me feel cold just looking at you."

"You sure it's not the opposite?" Skye said with a wink.

Ellie snickered. "Of course not. She's grown used to seeing half naked hunks strut around her farm."

I knew she was referring to Vaughn and I shot her a withering look.

"Half naked hunk?" Skye asked, curiously as Ellie hurried off to the kitchen while I headed towards my bags and pulled my phone out of one of them.

"Yeah, there's another silver-haired hunk in Chelsea's life at the moment," Ellie trilled as she started cooking breakfast.

"Oh really," Skye said as he slinked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. "Better look than me?"

"He's not pretty like you are," I answered, shrugging him off as I turned my phone on and saw that I had a missed call from my mom. "Crap, my mom rang."

"Do you want to go and see her today?" Ellie asked.

I was filled with longing to see my family again at the offer, but I was worried that my resolve to return to the Sunshine Islands would waver if I saw them again. I began nibbling my lip but was stopped when Skye reached out and grabbed my chin to pull my lip from my teeth. Surprised, I looked up at him and found him frowning at me.

"Why are you hesitating?" he asked me. "When was the last time you saw them?"

"Almost a year now," I said guiltily. "I'm just worried that if I see them again then I won't want to go back. I've been having a hard time recently."

"Yeah, I heard," Skye said.

"You did?"

"Kind of hard not to when that psycho was shouting at you last night," Skye replied. "She's not as quiet as I thought she was."

My brow furrowed. "You were eavesdropping, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I heard everything," Skye replied. He reached out and covered my hand that held the phone. "Go and see them. They probably miss you."

I was surprised by how concerned Skye was about me. His emerald eyes stared into mine searchingly and I suddenly felt very vulnerable. I had always thought of Skye as a fair-weather friend since he was always there for the good times but always pulled a disappearing act when things got rough. I'd thought he did that on purpose, but as he stared at me with genuine concern I realised that he really was worried for me.

"Thanks Skye," I said, smiling warmly at him. I glanced at my phone as I added, "You're right. I'll go see them."

"Good choice," he said, reaching out and ruffling my hair before heading back into his room to retrieve a shirt.

Once Trent got home from work later that afternoon I asked him to give me a lift to my parents house and he agreed, but only if they all got to tag along. Glad for the moral support, we all headed to my home in the suburbs and when we pulled up in front of my house I went stiff with nerves.

"Nervous?" Trent asked with a grin.

"More than you know," I said as I glanced from my house to Mark's. It was then that I recognised the car parked in their drive. The colour drained from my face and my friends, having read my expression, turned to follow my gaze.

"What are the chances?" Ellie said sullenly. She turned to me and added, "Look sweetie, just ignore him. He doesn't have to know you're here."

"He'll recognise Trent's car," Skye pointed out. "As wonderful as this car is, this Audi is a little too shiny."

"It's black," Trent said with a deadpan expression.

"My point exactly," Skye replied, tossing his silver hair to one side as he said. "How many black A4s have you seen on the way here?"

I rolled my eyes and ignored the two of them as they started bickering about Trent's expensive choice of car. Mustering up my courage, I opened the door and stepped out, surprising all of them. They quickly followed suit as I headed up the garden path and climbed the steps to the porch, wringing my hands nervously as I stared up at the large red front door. Even though I'd grown up seeing that door every day, it seemed almost alien to me as I found myself stood outside it after almost a year of being away. I raised my hand to knock on it but before my hand could impact the wood surface, it swung open and I found myself staring into the face of my buxom younger sister.

"Chelsea!" she shrieked, throwing herself at me and wrapping her arms around my neck as I stumbled backwards. "Oh my god oh my god!" She let go of me and quickly turned to call into the house, "Mom! Chelsea's home!"

My friends stood behind me awkwardly as we heard the sound of two pairs of thundering footsteps coming towards us and we all smiled shyly up at my parents when they appeared at the doorway. My mother's cheeks were flushed from having run so fast and my dad appeared to have been doing the garden because he was wearing his work clothes and had a smudge of dirt on his face. They stared at me in surprise for a moment before I was quickly smothered by the both of them bear-hugging me. We were a huge tangle of limbs and I squealed helplessly as I was hugged at all angles by my parents and my sister.

"Oh my baby!" my mom cried, cradling me in her arms as my dad encircled the both of us, kissing the side of my face affectionately.

"Ew, Dad, your stubble tickles!" I squirmed, trying to wriggle away from them.

"Hi," Ellie said with a wave as my family glanced up and finally realised that my friends had come with me.

"Ellie dear, it's been such a long time since we saw you," my mother said, reaching out and pecking my friends on the cheek as I reached up and wiped the dirt off of my dad's face. His blue eyes were narrowed at Skye who was smirking at Molly. Weirdly, Molly was smirking back at him knowingly and I shot Skye a dirty look to clearly communicate that he wasn't to get any ideas.

After our initial greetings, my mother ushered all of us back into the house and offered us drinks as Molly showed us into the sitting room. The house, which was Edwardian in style, had a large sitting room that my mother liked to call 'the parlour' and as we entered the room I was hit by a pleasant wave of warmth that emanated from the lit fireplace in the middle of the room. I looked around the room and drank in my surroundings hungrily, trying to notice if anything had been changed whilst I'd been gone. The sounds, smells and sights of my childhood home brought memories rushing back and I smiled tearfully at my sister as I noticed how _she_ had changed.

"Did you grow again?" I asked.

She nodded proudly. "An inch."

"And you got skinnier."

"So did you! All your puppy-fat is gone!"

"I never had puppy fat," I said dryly.

She giggled and threw her arms around me. "I missed you, bitch."

I hugged her back and gave her a squeeze. "Ditto."

As we clung to each other, my mom came in with a tray of drinks and cookies before looking at us tearfully and saying, "I'm glad you came home."

I extracted myself from my sister and said, "This is just a visit mom. I'm going back home tomorrow."

"Good," my dad said as he entered the room behind my mom. He'd quickly gone upstairs to change and had given his face a wash to get rid of any excess dirt. "I didn't lend you all that money just to have come running back before you did what you'd set out to do. I didn't raise you to be like that."

"Mr. Everett," Trent said with a respectful nod.

"Trent," my dad nodded back. "I'm guessing this visit was your idea?"

I fought back a smirk as Ellie said, "It was my idea, but Skye helped convince her."

My dad's blue eyes travelled to Skye, narrowing when he saw the way my lanky friend had sprawled himself in my dad's favourite arm chair. "I've never met _you_ before."

"Skye Allard," he said with a short wave of his fingers at my dad. My dad bristled at this casual introduction and it occurred to me that my dad had probably got the wrong idea about why Skye was with me.

"Dad, Skye's another of my friends," I said quickly. "Don't get the wrong idea."

One of Skye's long eyebrows rose upwards as my dad let out a sigh of relief. "Right," he said with a fleeting smile. "It's nice to meet you Skye. Sorry about that, I was just concerned that my daughter was jumping into another relationship after what happened with that twit next door."

"Albert!" my mom said warningly. "Not here."

"Sorry Mary, I'm just really annoyed with that boy. Chelsea wouldn't have left if it weren't for him," my dad huffed. "You know how I feel about this farming business."

For the rest of the afternoon and over dinner (my mom had insisted we all stay) I told my parents almost everything about what had happened on the islands. I altered details about the fire and completely omitted everything about Denny and Sabrina. Wanting to ease my parents' misgivings about letting me live on a remote island, I painted a rosy picture of what my life looked like. I downplayed the severity of the fire and waxed lyrical about all the people I'd befriended, telling them how amazing my new life was. I think I may have overdone it a little because my sister gave me suspicious looks when I finally finished my picture-perfect account of the past year, but thankfully my parents looked relieved and didn't seem to see through my lies.

Once the sun had set and dinner was finished, I noticed how tired Trent looked and remembered that'd he'd had a long shift at the hospital that day. Glad for my friends' support, but not wanting to inconvenience them any further, I told my parents that it was time for the four of us to head back and my mom immediately protested.

"You can't leave yet!" she exclaimed. "You only just arrived! You should stay the night dear. One night won't hurt you."

"Mary," my dad began warningly. "Don't do this."

"She's my eldest daughter and I'll do what I want," my mom snapped. "She's been away on some island for almost a year and it's likely that we won't see her again for another few months."

"Mom, please," I pleaded.

"Darling, don't force her to stay," my dad said sternly. "If you make her stay one night, you'll want her to stay for another and then another and then she won't go back to that farm at all. You know what you're like. So let the girl go now; she has her own life to lead."

"But she's my baby," my mom said tearing up.

Molly sighed and rubbed my mom's back comfortingly as I shot my dad an appreciative look. He gave me a short nod in response before pulling his napkin off of his lap and saying, "Well, it was lovely to see you Chelsea. I'm glad to hear that you're doing well, though this whole fire business is a little alarming. Make sure your house has a fire alarm installed next time; don't take any chances."

"Don't worry. Vaughn helped me install one shortly after my house was repaired," I blurted out without thinking. As soon as his name was out of my mouth, I realised I'd committed major word-vomit. My dad's eyes narrowed again as they always did when he was suspicious about something and Ellie's tittering didn't help matters. I had managed to avoid talking about Vaughn at all during my account of my life on the Sunshine Islands, simply referring to him as 'the livestock dealer', but as soon as his name tumbled from my lips, I knew that I was about to get a bunch of questions.

My sister, the little minx that she was, saw through my reaction immediately and asked slyly, "Who's Vaughn?"

I felt my eye twitch and I said, "He's my livestock dealer."

Unable to resist, Ellie leaned forward and said in a gossipy tone, "He's her friend Julia's cousin. I thought he had a bit of an attitude problem when I first met him, but he's a good guy underneath it all. I think you guys would like him."

"Is he good looking?" my mother asked immediately, also leaning forward conspiratorially. She was pulling no punches.

I actually face-palmed, leaning my elbow on the table and covering my face as Ellie went off about how good looking Vaughn was. My sister and mother listened avidly while the men around the table glanced at each other as if to say 'women...'

"So you _have_ found a new boyfriend then," my dad said after Ellie finally finished extolling Vaughn's many virtues.

I cringed and shook my head. "No. I haven't. In spite of everything Ellie's said about him, nothing is going on. Seriously."

"Then why is he 'always' at your farm then?"

"I already told you earlier. He felt guilty about what happened at the Cow Festival and was taking responsibility for my injury. He's probably going to go home as soon as I get back anyway, so I don't know why you're getting all pissed about it," I said, shooting Ellie a glare that made her mouth 'sorry' at me.

"Okay, well, get off home with you then," my dad said, rising from his seat hastily. "The sooner you get back, the sooner that man can go home. You've inconvenienced him enough as it is. No doubt the accident at the festival was probably your fault somehow and the poor bugger got guilt-tripped into helping you."

After a long and tearful goodbye from my mother and a dozen of hugs and 'love ya bitch' exchanges with my sister, my family finally let my friends and I leave for the evening. Waving them good bye as we stepped out onto the porch, I quickly glanced across at the Mark's driveway and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that his car was gone.

Skye suddenly draped an arm over my shoulder as he asked, "Feeling better now that you've seen them?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I needed that. Although I don't want to leave them so soon, I've at least seen for myself that they're doing well. My mom and dad are pretty much the same, but my sister definitely got prettier."

"You jelly?" he asked teasingly.

I giggled. "A little."

"Don't be, you're beautiful in your own way," he said, giving my shoulder squeeze as he guided me down the stairs.

He opened the car door for me and handed me in as Trent lingered in the doorway, chatting to my parents about something as Ellie waited at the bottom of the steps for him. I watched them curiously for a moment before Trent smiled charmingly at my mom and patted my dad on the back. They beamed at him and I wondered what Trent must have said to them to make them look so pleased. I didn't hesitate to ask him when he and Ellie got into the car.

"I told them about my upcoming position in Mineral Town," he said as he started the engine.

"Oh right," I said, still a little puzzled why they'd be so pleased about it. Sure, they'd be pleased for him, but would it make them grin like that?

Ellie giggled. "His position at Mineral Town means that he'll be the doctor on call for the Sunshine Islands. We'll be visiting you every two weeks."

My mouth fell open. "Seriously?"

"We'll be able to keep an eye on you for your parents."

I was both relieved and anxious at the news; it would be nice to have them visiting me, but I couldn't help but worry that their presence would further compound the drama. I remembered Trent's previous animosity with Vaughn and I could only imagine how he'd react with Denny.

By the time we got back to their apartment, Skye had fallen asleep next to me in the back seat. We had some difficulty getting him to wake up again, since he was a heavy sleeper, but eventually Ellie and I managed to get him out of the car and he headed up the stairs with me. His arm was slinked around my waist and his head rested against the top of mine as he effectively leaned on me for the whole journey up.

When we reached their floor I almost lost my balance when I saw who was waiting there for us. Sensing my surprise, Skye looked up and also went rigid. The arm that had been wrapped around my waist tightened and his fingers flexed oddly against my shirt.

"Mark, what are you doing here?" Trent asked, stopping at the top of the stairs and preventing the rest of us from coming up any further.

Mark was sat slumped against the front door of the apartment and, from the looks of things, he'd been there for a while. His intention in coming there was quite clear when his eyes found me almost immediately. As soon as our eyes met, he shot to his feet and ran a hand through his hair nervously. His blonde locks had grown lighter from being outside all the time and he looked good. Really really good. He'd bulked up from all the constant exercise and his skin had a healthy glow to it that told me that he'd been having a good life back in Zephyr.

"What are you doing with _him_?" Mark asked suddenly, his eyes switching from me to Skye. "What the fuck are you doing with that asshole?"


	38. Curry Loving Cat Burglar

**Author's Note: **Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! This chapter was so hard! SO HARD! I originally wrote this as a Chelsea chapter, but for some reason her muse went very very quiet. Probably something to do with Mark's appearance. Anyway, little change of POV here. Was interesting trying to write as the CLCB (see chapter title) and I'm not sure if I did a good job or not. I'm aware that he isn't completely in character here and there are a few points in the chapter where I know I could have put in a bit more description in terms of how he was feeling, but I cut most of them out because I wanted to maintain the pace of the dialogue rather than bog it down with introspection.

As always, thank you for continuing to reading! Especially those who have been R&Ring since I first started! I have been keeping track and I totally love you all for supporting me! Although it means there's more pressure on me to make sure that the each new chapter is good, it's a good pressure and I hope I don't disappoint you guys in the future.

Anyway, on to the next chapter!

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty Eight<strong>

_Curry Loving Cat Burglar_

I never used to hate Mark as much as I do now. To begin with, I was simply indifferent to him. He was just 'Chelsea's boyfriend' and I never really thought of him as being a person outside of that label. While Chelsea was the darling that kept our little group together, Mark never really seemed as willing to come out with us and only did so because of Chelsea's insistence. I guess that's part of the reason their relationship broke down; she was intent on involving him in her life and he didn't share her enthusiasm. Instead of trying to similarly get her involved in _his_ life, he carved out his dreams without her in them. I'd always seen it coming really - he had an inferiority complex about her.

As he stood there, glaring at me furiously, I decided to taunt him a bit. I pulled Chelsea a little closer to me; not so close that she'd become suspicious, but close enough for him to see it and become jealous. And oh my, he almost turned green. I'm surprised he didn't do a Bruce Banner and burst out of his clothes yelling, 'HULK SMASH!'

"Mark, calm down," Trent said, putting a hand to Mark's chest and pushing him back when he tried to get near us.

Not taking Trent's defensive move well, Mark grabbed Trent's hand and threw it off him before pointing his finger at me and saying, "You get the fuck away from her. Right now!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Chelsea asked in outrage, moving out of my grasp and stepping forward in spite of Ellie and Trent's efforts to keep her back. "Why are you even here Mark?"

"I saw Trent's car outside your parent's house," he explained, calming down almost immediately - it was like watching King Kong and Ann Darrow. "I had to come and see you. I mean, I didn't want to disturb you when you were with your parents so I came here and waited for you to come back. I figured you'd be staying with them."

Although I couldn't see Chelsea's expression from where I was, I could tell that she wasn't prepared to face him again. Her whole body went rigid and I could see her right hand twitching, as if she was trying to hold back the urge to hit him. Not wanting her to do anything she would regret, I stepped forward and put my hand in front of her, gently trying to push her back as I said, "She doesn't want to see you."

"How would you know? What? Are the two of you dating now, is that it?" Mark asked scathingly. "How could you date this jerk, Chelsea? Do you know what he's done? Has he told you what he does for a living now?"

I half turned my head towards Chelsea and I saw that her expression was strained. Her blue eyes were narrowed and her lips had pursed into a thin line of concentration. I wish I could have heard what she was thinking; I can only imagine how confused she must have been.

"Look dude, just go home. You shouldn't have come here like this unannounced," I said, turning back to Mark. "She's not ready for you yet."

"It's none of your fucking business," Mark snapped back. "This is between me and her. You've got no right to stick your pointy nose in it."

"Sorry, but it _is_ my business," I said through gritted teeth. "She's more my business than she is yours. You lost the right to even speak to her when you started banging that maid back in Zephyr."

"I wasn't _banging_ her," Mark said, his eyes darting to Chelsea quickly before returning to me. "You got the wrong idea."

Ellie scoffed disbelievingly from behind us. "Sorry Mark, but from what I heard from Skye, he wasn't getting the wrong idea at all. Besides, we've all seen the pictures. Even Chelsea saw one of them."

"You showed them?" Mark asked, his mouth falling open. "You fucking showed them?!"

Although Mark had been looking quite murderous at that point, I was actually quite surprised when he suddenly decided to sucker punch me in the gut. As his fist impacted my stomach, I doubled over and gasped against the pain. I couldn't believe he'd just hit me. Recovering from the punch quickly, I glanced up at Mark just as he took another swing at me, aiming for my head this time. Anticipating it, I dodged under the strike and ran at him with my shoulder. Mark was thrown back and his head smacked violently against the wooden door as he grappled at my back.

What happened next was a bit of a blur. Unable to hold back my resentment for the hypocritical little git, I let my anger get the better of me. We punched, kicked and thrashed, doing everything we could to as much damage to each other as possible. Concentrating completely on my task at hand (beating Mark senseless), I was only vaguely aware of Ellie shrieking at Trent for him to do something and Chelsea yelling for us to stop. I wasn't really surprised that Trent wasn't trying to stop us; I think he actually enjoyed watching me beat the shit out of Mark when I finally had him pinned to the floor. I managed to smack him a couple more times before I suddenly felt a weight on my back.

My tunnel vision receded almost immediately and I became aware that the weight on my back was actually Chelsea. Or more specifically, her breasts. She'd thrown herself at me and was grabbing at my arm to stop me from hitting Mark again while her other arm had wrapped itself around my neck in a sort of chokehold. She was surprisingly strong and it didn't take much for her to pull me back off of him.

Chelsea turned to Trent. "What the fuck are you just standing there for?!"

Snapping out of his bloodthirsty daze, Trent quickly bent down to inspect Mark's nose but Mark was having none of it. Furious at him for just letting me beat him up, Mark pushed Trent away and picked himself off of the floor as Chelsea let out a tut of frustration and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. Advancing on him with the purpose of trying to tend to his wounds, Chelsea reached up to his face but Mark swot her away angrily.

"Let me look at it," she said through gritted teeth.

"Don't touch me," he snarled, flinching away from her.

"I don't know what the fuck came over you, but you need to know that I don't give a crap about that picture. And I am _not_ dating Skye," she hissed at him. Her words seemed to do the trick, because Mark let out a short shudder and didn't try to bat her away when she tried to touch him again.

"You didn't say anything," Mark said quietly as she dabbed at the cuts with a frown of concentration. "I thought you were _with_ him."

"You should know me better than that. Why would I date Skye?" she asked him as she examined his fat lip with a wince. "Jeez, he's stronger than he looks. You look a mess."

"There's a lot about Skye that you don't know about," he said as his eyes slid over to where I was crouched on the floor. While Trent and Ellie had a whispered argument with one another, I watched Chelsea tend his wounds. I was forgotten about almost completely. Although I understood that she still cared about him, I couldn't help feeling a little bitter that she was fussing over him rather than me when he'd started the fight to begin with.

I glanced up at Trent and Ellie as they quietly argued and eventually Trent noticed me staring. He offered me a hand up and I accept it sullenly, turning back to Chelsea and Mark as their voices became hushed and intimate.

Watching them together again made me remember why I'd gone to Zephyr to see Mark in the first place. In spite of the situation, the two of them looked good together. Back when we were all still friends the pair of them were like two jigsaw pieces that fit together so perfectly that it was almost inconceivable that they would part. It seemed that this was still the case, but there was one difference now; while Mark looked like he wouldn't be able to belong with anyone else, Chelsea had lost that aspect about her. The look in her eyes when she stared up at him was not that of a girl in love anymore.

"Did you really think that coming here would change anything?" I heard her ask him.

"I tried to live without you," he told her. "I tried to make myself believe that I could live without you, but I can't. I miss you Chelsea. When I saw Trent's car in your parents' driveway, I got so excited that you were in town and drove straight here so I could see you. I couldn't stay away."

"No Mark," she said to him, pulling away and taking a step back to further emphasise their separation. "I can't. This... we aren't right for each other."

I think we were all surprised when Chelsea said that. We all fell silently and turned to Mark, waiting for his reaction.

"What do you mean?" he asked, frowning in confusion.

Chelsea's cornflower blue eyes were clear and almost luminescent in the dim light of the corridor as she looked up at him. It was like watching a female warrior going into battle and her resolute expression brought to mind stories of Joan of Arc. She was at war with herself internally, as if struggling to find the words she needed to say and it was then that I knew that she was well and truly over Mark. Whatever had happened to her on those islands had changed her. She was no longer the feisty girl that had left us nearly a year ago; she was a mature young woman who had found herself.

"You and I were together because it was convenient for us to be together," she explained. "Neighbours, friends, lovers... we fit that stereotypical mould so well. But in terms of who we are as people, we don't fit. We're too different, Mark. It wasn't always this way, but over the past couple of years we've changed and... well... grown up."

"So that's it for us, huh?" Mark asked.

She nodded, her bottom lip trembling as she struggled not to cry. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's my own fault that I lost you anyway. If I hadn't been so selfish then maybe things would have turned out differently, but now I have to deal with the consequences," he said sadly. He paused to appraise her quickly before commenting, "You look good."

"Thanks," she said, rubbing her unformed tears from her eyes. "So do you. Well, did. The bloody nose sort of detracts from that."

Mark chuckled lightly before saying, "So I'm guessing the bet is off then."

She shook her head with a smile. "No way Jose."

"Why though? Wasn't the whole point behind the competition to get revenge on me?" he asked.

"Yes, it was, but now I'm doing it to prove a point that we've both known since we were kids. I'm better than you and I want to make you acknowledge that."

"You haven't changed."

"Yes, I have. You just haven't seen it yet," she replied.

He reached up and brushed a strand of her hair out of her face as he said, "You have to know that I'm not giving up on you yet. I'm going to fight for you, so don't forget about me. Okay?"

She said nothing in response and simply looked down at her feet guiltily. Mark gazed at her a little longer before retracting his hand and turning to leave. Before he did, he turned to me quickly and said, "You're dead the next time I see you." With that parting shot, he left.

* * *

><p>After Mark had gone we all moved into the apartment where Trent tended to my wounds while Ellie cleaned up the bloody mess the fight had left in the corridor. As Trent disinfected my wounds and dressed them, Chelsea watched us mutely. Her blue eyes were fixed solely on me, as if silently questioning what Mark could possibly have against me. She continued to watch us in silence until Trent finally packed up his first aid kit and went out to help Ellie clean up in the corridor.<p>

As soon as the door closed behind them, Chelsea asked, "So are you going to tell me what you did that made Mark so mad at you?"

Running a hand through my hair, I ignored her question and headed out onto the balcony for some fresh air. I didn't want to tell her yet. I knew she'd be angry if she found out and I wasn't quite ready to confess everything to her. Unfortunately she didn't particularly care about that and followed me onto the balcony anyway, tactically shutting the door behind us so that Ellie and Trent wouldn't hear. The door hissed shut behind her and she came over to the railings as I leaned over them and looked out at the city below, admiring the noises and lights of civilisation.

"Well?" she asked impatiently.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked moodily, not looking at her. "Mark and I don't like each other anymore. We had a disagreement and that's it."

"I don't think that's enough for him to ram his fist into your gut," she replied icily. "If it were, Trent would be black and blue by now."

I sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I did tell you."

"Well considering all I've seen tonight, I'm ready to believe anything," she said. "So try me."

Knowing that she wasn't going to give up, I took a deep breath and turned to her as I said, "After you left uni I decided to go and pay Mark a visit."

"I gathered that much. So what happened?"

"Well, the reason I went there was because I was hoping to make him come back to get you. Now, I know you seem to think that I don't care about you guys, but I do. Well, did. I don't really give a shit about Mark anymore, as you saw," I said, digressing and causing her to roll her eyes at me. "Well, anyway, when I got there I saw that he'd grown far too 'friendly' with the women there in Zephyr and I got pretty pissed off with him. He didn't seem to care that I could see him gallivanting with other women, even inviting me to some of the parties he was going to, and that's when I started to take pictures. One of which Ellie actually sent to you."

"Yes, the one from the bar," she said blandly.

"Ah, well, I figured she would only send that one. That was quite tame in comparison to the others," I said.

She waved her hand dismissively. "I don't care to know about those."

"Ah right."

"So then what?"

The next part was difficult for me. I wasn't sure how to phrase it delicately enough for her to understand and not freak out about. "Well, I found out that I had a knack for stealing more than just hearts."

She frowned at my attempt to be cryptic. "What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath and steeled myself against how she would react as I said, "I broke into Mark's house one night and stole a large chunk of his savings from the safe he had installed under his living room floor."

She went completely quiet. I was almost afraid to look at her and when I did I saw that she had gone pink in the face.

"Why did you do that?!" she yelled at full volume.

I winced and shied away from her a couple of inches. "I was mad at him and figured that I should level the playing field between the two of you for this competition. I didn't think it was fair that he had such a huge financial advantage over you while he was off having a jolly old time with little blonde lolitas in maid's outfits. I mean, I didn't steal _all_ of his money. I left him with enough to get started. About the same amount as you probably had."

"And what did you do with the rest of money?"

I flashed her a smile as I asked, "Would you believe me if I told you that I gave it to a local charity?"

"Probably not," she admitted.

Rolling my eyes upwards I replied in a singsong voice, "Well that's what I did."

"So now I know why you're hiding out here," she said. "You're on the run because you decided to become Robin Hood."

"Something like that, yeah," I replied airily, staring down at the cars below and hoping she wouldn't guess that there was more to the story. I could practically hear her brain thinking as she also leaned against the railings, staring at me shrewdly through narrowed eyes.

"And?"

"And what?"

"What else did you get up to when you were out there?"

"Nothing?"

"I don't believe you," she said bluntly. "Skye, tell me what you did."

I knew it was time to bite the bullet. "Well, Mark wasn't the only person I stole from."

She groaned tiredly. "You didn't..."

"I did," I said, hanging my head in shame. "I realised with some surprise that I was actually pretty good at it too and I needed the money so I burgled a couple more houses in Zephyr before heading back here. I stopped in at Forget-Me-Not Valley on the way down here too and some fun there."

"Had some fun? Had some fun?! Skye, I thought you wanted to become a chef! How could you decide that being a burglar was a viable career path?!"

"Chelsea, keep your voice down! Trent and Ellie might hear you!"

"I don't care! They have a right to know!" she exclaimed. "They're hiding a criminal in their apartment and they don't even know about it! You're putting them in a compromising position by simply _being_ here. If the police manage to track you here, what are they meant to say? They'll get charged for harbouring a fugitive and you may end up ruining their careers! Did you not even think about that?!"

"And this is why I was going to keep it a secret," I said. "If Mark had just kept his mouth shut, you wouldn't have been any the wiser and they could have just told the police that they didn't know anything about what I've been up to."

She glared hard at me and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on ends. If looks could kill, I would probably be six feet under by now. "So you've become a curry loving cat-burglar... that's just great. Yet another unwanted complication in my life."

"Are you going to tell Trent and Ellie?"

"No," she replied, not even pausing to consider it. "You're right. For their sake it's best they don't know. Ellie would turn into a nervous wreck in front of the police and confess everything if she knew what you'd been up to." She then turned to me and jabbed a finger into my shoulder threateningly. "But you _need_ to go somewhere else. Stop imposing on their hospitality."

I nodded in agreement and she reached up to tug a lock of my hair. "Owch."

"I'm not kidding Skye," she said. "You better leave here sooner rather than later."


	39. Wedge

**Author's Note:** As always, thank you for the reviews everyone! moon eclipse, thanks for pointing that out. I somehow skipped over that when I was doing a quick read through before posting. I don't have a beta reader so I apologise for any typos or mistakes that I miss during my last minute read-throughs. But yeah, I'm glad you all liked reading the story from Skye's perspective - he's a tricky sod to write as. It's fun trying to write from different characters perspectives because I have to concentrate on maintaining the tone of the character's internal monologue whilst trying to get the story to move forward at the same time. It's a challenge, but a fun one and I hope I'm doing okay. So anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirty Nine<strong>

_Wedge_

I couldn't wait to get back to my farm. After all that had happened in the space of two days, I just wanted to crawl back to my little island where I could easily hide from everyone by simply locking the door and crawling under the bed sheets. Finding out about Sabrina's true character, seeing Mark again and watching him get beat down, finding out that Skye had become a cat-burglar... It was just too much information. You know that feeling you get when there are just too many problems around you and I don't know which one you should address first and it just leaves you feeling confused and stressed and just generally out of control? Yeah, that's what I was feeling by the time Trent finally dropped me off at the dock.

Since Ellie had a shift at the local clinic and Skye had slithered off to do, well, whatever it was that he did during the day, it left just Trent to see me off. He helped me with my bags and waited for the boat with me, though he remained silent for the most part. It wasn't until the boat had nearly reached the dock that he finally spoke.

"Do you feel ready to go back?" he asked.

No. "Yes."

"Well you know you can call either myself or Ellie up if you ever need anything," he said with a shy smile. "We're here for you, so if you ever feel burdened by something, don't be afraid to tell us."

I got the feeling that Ellie must have said something to him to make him reiterate that fact. "What did she tell you?"

He shrugged. "She was just a little worried about the fact that you didn't tell her anything about what was going on over there. She doesn't want you to feel like you're bothering us with your problems, because you really aren't. You're the closest thing she has to a sister and I know that she worries about you a lot. We both do."

Something bothered me about the way Trent said that. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe the tone of his voice, or maybe it was the way he turned away so that I wouldn't see his face. Whatever it was, I acted on instinct and reached out to him. I touched his arm only slightly and he turned to me with an expression that I can only describe as haunted.

"Trent, what's wrong?" I asked him.

He blinked and turned away, his jaw clenching as if he were trying to hold back some strong emotion. "It's nothing."

"No, seriously, what's wrong?" I persisted. "What you just said to me also applies in reverse you know. I might be Ellie's best friend but I'm your friend too so if you have anything you're worried about, I'll listen to you."

He let out an exasperated sigh. "See, that's the problem. It's _because_ it's you that I can't tell you."

Confused and concerned, I was startled when I heard the boat's horn go off. It had just arrived at the dock and the other passengers had started lining up to board it. I turned to look at the ferry briefly before saying, "Tell me next time we see each other. Okay? Or you can call me."

He shook his head. "Just leave it Chelsea. Go home, get settled back in. I'll see you nearer the time of the wedding."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just look after yourself okay?" he said as he handed me my suitcase.

I didn't want to leave without finding out what was wrong, but as the ferry blew it's horn to signal the last call for passengers to board, I was left with no choice but to drop the issue and get on the boat. As I watched Trent fade into the distance, growing smaller and smaller, I wondered at what could possibly have caused him to look the way he had. Was it something to do with Ellie? Or maybe work? Thousands of possibilities ran through my mind, but I eventually settled on one that disturbed me more than the others: it was about me.

As soon as the thought formed in my mind, I rejected and ejected it. My life was complicated enough without causing more complications by over analysing and over exaggerating a problem which may or may not have even existed. I instead forced myself to think about other more important things, like planting my buckwheat seeds and restocking the fridge and telling Julia and Natalie about all that had happened. I busied my mind all throughout the journey back to Verdure Island, hoping to somehow slowly forget about that one thought, but I wasn't able to forget completely until I finally got back to my farm.

Crossing over the wooden bridge, I had expected to see my farm still in tatters but I let out a short gasp when I saw that it wasn't as I had left it. The ash from the fire had been mostly swept up, the fields were seeded neatly and the wood panelling on the exterior of my house had been repainted with a fresh lick of white paint that made it literally look as good as new. My heart thudded in my chest as I realised what this meant and my eyes immediately sought out the person responsible for all this, but he was nowhere to be seen. Guessing that he was in the barn, I dragged my suitcase over towards it and left it outside as I slowly opened the door and peeked in.

Vaughn was sat on a stool in front of one of my cows, his brow furrowed in concentration as he milked her with expert quickness. I might sound like a complete pervert, but there was something very erotic about watching him work. Indulging in my perverseness since he hadn't noticed me come in, I stood and admired him for about five minutes. Oh gosh, I wanted him so badly. Now that I knew everything about Sabrina, I no longer felt that chain of loyalty that bound me from showing him how I felt. Even if I incurred the wrath of that crazy bitch, I was at least free to express my feelings without the backlash of guilt over my disloyalty. The wall that I'd built around myself had been knocked down that day she told me she'd started the fire.

When Vaughn finally looked up and saw me watching him like the creeper that I was, he actually jumped and nearly kicked the bucket over. My desire for him shot through the roof when I saw the surprised vulnerability in his eyes and I raised a hand to cover my mouth so he wouldn't see me smirking. I'm pretty sure I had my perv-face on.

"So you're back," he stated as he readjusted his hat and rose to his full height with the bucket in hand. "Is your arm feeling okay?"

I simply nodded, not trusting my voice yet.

"And you're friends, they were pleased to see you I'm guessing?"

Again, I only nodded in response.

"Well, that's good then," he said, again reaching up to fiddle with the brim of his hat as he put the bucket of milk down on the nearby table. He then put his hand in his back pocket and pulled out the set of keys I'd given him before I'd left. Walking over, he held them outstretched towards me and he waited for me to take them, but I didn't. I was rooted to the spot because I'd noticed one thing that disturbed me. He wasn't looking me in the eye. Aside from that first surprised glance, he hadn't raised his eyes to meet mine not once and I knew that this was a bad sign; he'd never had a problem looking me in the eye before.

"Are you going to take them?" he asked, still not looking at me.

"No," I replied. "Not until you look at me."

Struggling with himself, his eyes slowly rose upwards and I felt my heart throb painfully in my chest as they finally met mine. Remorse. I read the regret in his eyes as easily as you read my words now. I didn't understand it. Was it remorse over what had happened with my arm? Had he done something whilst I was gone that would upset me?

"I should go," he said, reaching out and grabbing my hand. He placed the keys in them and closed my fingers around them as I stood staring at him in shock. "I'm glad to see that you're arm is all better."

He turned to leave the barn, but before he left I reached out and grabbed a handful of his shirt. "Wait."

"What?"

I didn't want him to leave. I was desperate to keep him there a little longer, if only to find out what was wrong and why he looked so guilty. I licked my bottom lip nervously before asking, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

I could tell that I'd startled him. I actually felt his whole body jump through the grip I had on his shirt. I looked up, seeking his gaze again. His mouth opened and then closed, but no words came out.

"I-It's my way of saying thank you. For minding the farm," I said, rushing to explain. "You did most of the things that I'd listed on my mental checklist and you've saved me a lot of time by repainting the house for me. I need to repay you somehow."

"You don't need to repay me," he replied. His voice was cold, hard. It was like how it used to be when we'd first met. "I don't think me staying for dinner is a good idea."

What was going on? It was only last week that he'd wanted to kiss me, but now he didn't even want to stay for dinner? Hadn't _I_ been the one that didn't want to go forward with any sort of relationship? What had suddenly happened that was making him pull away? I just didn't get it.

"You should know that I'm not friends with Sabrina anymore," I told him, letting go of his shirt. "She told me that she was the one that started the fire."

I expected Vaughn to be surprised by the news and was further alarmed when he wasn't. He didn't even bat an eyelid. He simply frowned at me. Had he known all along?

He reached up to rub his eyes tiredly with one hand. "And that's why I can't stay for dinner."

It finally fell into place. Vaughn didn't want Sabrina to harass me anymore and had clearly realised that he was the cause for it in the first place. Once again, she had driven an emotional wedge between the two of us.

"Don't go," I said, once again reaching out to stop him from leaving. I grabbed his arm this time and he immediately covered my hand with one his larger one. The calluses on his palm were rough against the softness of the back of my hand, but the grip with which his hand had on mine was so gentle that I knew that this was probably upsetting him just as much as it was upsetting me.

"Chelsea, I can't," he said.

"I'm not scared of her," I said in a hushed tone, growing more desperate.

He reached out with his other hand and cupped the side of my face as those beautiful violet eyes regarded me sadly. They travelled across my face, tracing invisible lines over my cheeks, eyes and forehead before they finally rested on my lips. He swallowed hard as he gently skimmed his thumb over them and unconsciously my lips parted in response. His thumb paused briefly as I did this and I saw a spark of longing in his eyes as they quickly darted up to meet mine. He wanted me and we both knew it; it was taking every ounce of self control he had not to act on that desire.

"You might not be scared of her," he said as he pulled his hand away. "But I'm scared _for_ you. I don't want to see you get hurt because of me anymore."

After that, I didn't reach out to stop him leaving again.

"I told you, didn't I?" Julia said as soon as I told her of the events over the past couple of days.

Julia and Natalie came to see me almost as soon as Vaughn had left. In fact, I think Vaughn may have been the one that had told them I was back. After hearing of my arrival they showed up at my house unannounced and since I didn't have any chores left to do on the farm I ended up curled up with them on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon.

"So she's actually completely mental," Natalie said, still looking shocked that Sabrina had been the culprit all along. "Totally loony toons."

"Speaking of which, she hasn't been back since she disappeared," Julia said. "Ever since she disappeared the same day Chelsea left, Regis has been running all over town looking for her. He even went to see Vaughn and asked him if he'd seen her. Do you think she'll come back?"

"Don't know, don't care," I replied bitterly. "I feel ugly for saying this but I really couldn't care less if she ended up at the bottom of the ocean. She's caused me nothing but trouble since I met her and now Vaughn doesn't want to see me anymore because he's scared she'll do something to me again."

"So wait, did he actually say he liked you?" Natalie asked, gently poking my arm as I brought my knees up to my chest.

I shot her a peeved look. "He doesn't have to say it. We both just... know."

"Eh?"

"On the night of the fire, when he took me to the beach, we nearly kissed," I told them quietly, burying my face in my knees as I saw their eyes widen almost simultaneously.

"Way to go Vaughn," Natalie said with a grin. "Smooches on the beach? Who would have thought he was so cliché?"

Julia was less than impressed. "He nearly kissed you after your house was set on fire?"

"The _when_ doesn't matter," Natalie said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's the fact that it nearly _did_ happened. In fact, it would have been almost poetic if it _had_ happened."

"I don't see how taking advantage of an emotionally unstable young woman is poetic," Julia replied scathingly. "I think it's quite disgusting actually."

"So why didn't you kiss anyway? You were alone right? It's not like someone was going to come along and interrupt you on the beach at three o'clock in the morning," Natalie asked, ignoring Julia's cynicism.

"You know how I'm sometimes blindly loyal to my friends? Yeah, that's what happened. I felt guilty about Sabrina and I ended up pulling away before it happened. Farm fire aside, I'd been wanting to kiss Vaughn for a while before that, so I doubt my 'emotional instability' had anything to do with it," I replied.

Julia rolled her eyes. "Even so, his timing sucks. I'm going to have words with him when I get home."

"I don't think there's any point to that," I told her as Natalie picked up the T.V remote and started flicking through channels. "He pretty much told me that he didn't want to get involved with me any further."

"Yeah, _after_ all the damage is done," Julia said. "I already warned him that Sabrina might do something stupid if he got too close to you. I had a long conversation with him about it. He refused to believe that she would do something so..."

She paused to look for the word and Natalie attempted to fill the blank. "Crazy?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'scary'," Julia said, wrinkling her nose. "It's kind of terrifying that she would go that far. Makes me wonder what else she's done."

"I'm not scared of her," I said, echoing my words from earlier. "I'll beat the shit out of her if she ever crosses me again."

"Golly gosh, I think she means it," Natalie said in mock surprise.

"I think you've had enough aggression for the past couple of days," Julia said, patting my knee. "I'm just glad that you've finally seen the light."

Nibbling my lip, I turned to her apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"It's okay honey," she said, smiling as she pulled me into a cuddle. "It's a good thing to be so loyal to your friends."

"Speaking of which," Natalie said as she finally found a channel she was content with. "How's Nursey doing?"

"Ellie's doing fine. She's super excited about her wedding with Trent, obviously, and she's decided to hold the wedding in Spring. I'll probably have to be the Maid of Honour, though I'm not sure how I'm going to fit that into my schedule. All that organising and running around... on top of my farm chores and preparations for the festivals next year? It's going to be manic. Anyway, you're both invited to come so you'll have to think of what to wear and check whether Pierre and Elliot can come as your dates."

"I'm a little worried that E and T's wedding date will clash with Lily and Will's," Natalie said with a frown. "I think Will wants a spring wedding too, though I don't think Lily's all that fussed."

Julia shifted uncomfortably at the mention of weddings. Looking away nervously, she began to nibble at her nails as Natalie added, "We could probably get away with re-wearing whatever we wear to Ellie's wedding to Will and Lily's."

"So many weddings," Julia commented, taking her fingers out of her mouth long enough to speak. "I can only hope that Elliot won't get any ideas."

"And here I thought you'd _want_ him to get ideas," Natalie said, glancing at Julia. "Don't you want to marry him?"

"Maybe," Julia replied.

Natalie scowled. "What, you're having doubts about being with him? I thought you said that book helped with all that."

"It did. I'm just... the institution of marriage doesn't really appeal to me. It never has," the blonde replied nervously, not looking Natalie in the eye.

Realising that Julia needed a reprieve from the subject, I quickly asked, "So did anything major happen while I was gone?"

"Not really. It's been quite boring really, since Sabrina did a runner and Denny disappeared," Natalie replied with a shrug.

"Denny disappeared?"

"Yeah. He went missing the same day Sabrina did. Ray said his ship hasn't been at the dock for almost two days now."

Julia narrowed her eyes. "And how do you know this?"

"I spoke to Lanna about it. She went looking for him and couldn't find him," Natalie replied with a grimace. "I didn't want to know why she was looking for him, but I don't think it was about anything good."

"And why were you talking to Lanna?" I asked, also narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

Natalie's face coloured and she looked away shyly as she said, "Well, I started talking to Lanna a bit after the Harvest Festival."

I laughed out loud. "So the two of you are friends now?!"

Her cheeks puffed out angrily as she said, "Well now that she's not dating Denny anymore I didn't see any reason _not_ to talk to her. That was the main reason I found her so irritating to begin with."

"Oh, so you completely forgot that she's obnoxious and nauseatingly arrogant?"

"That's just a front she puts up," Natalie said defensively. "She's actually not that bad once you get to know her a bit better."

I threw a pillow at her teasingly and she batted it away with a giggle. I was glad that Natalie was opening up more to other people. She had slowly changed since I'd first met her and she seemed much happier as a person than she was back then. Before, she had been stroppy and rude, but now she was more genial and open-minded. It could be that she'd always been like that to begin with and was only just starting to see it, but I have a feeling that her switch in attitude had something to do with Pierre being in her life.

I was just about to ask her about how things were going with Pierre when there was a sudden knock on the door. All three of us froze guiltily when we heard the knock, even though we weren't actually doing anything wrong.

"Who is it?" I hollered through the door as I got up from the couch and went to the window to peek out and see if I could see them. Unable to see through the darkness, I put the chain on the door before opening it slowly.

Stood before me was Skye. With a duffle bag slung over his shoulder and his silver hair a windswept mess, he smiled at me smugly as he said, "Chelsea baby. I did as you asked and got out of their apartment."

Without a second thought I closed the door in his face.


	40. My Self Proclaimed Fairy Godbrother

**Chapter Forty**

_My Self-Proclaimed Fairy Godbrother_

"Who was it?" Natalie asked curiously as both she and Julia got up and scurried over to me.

I seriously considered grabbing the pitchfork that I kept near the door and chasing Skye off with it. Although I had told Skye to get out of Ellie and Trent's apartment, I hadn't anticipated that he would think he could stay with _me_. Thinking that he would find one of his sugar mommas to stay with, it didn't even cross my mind that he would follow me back to the Sunshine Islands. With a dramatic sigh, I unchained the door and I opened it again to reveal him to my two friends. I think Julia must have orgasmed on the spot because she let out this very strange 'Ooh' noise that I'd never heard her make before.

"Well now," Skye said, looking down at all three of us. His eyes fell first on Natalie before focusing on Julia's chest rather than her face. "Aren't you all a sight for sore eyes? I'm guessing you two must be Julia and Natalie."

"Yes," Julia breathed, stretching out her hand for him to shake as he barged into the house with his bag slung over his shoulder. "I'm Julia."

As Natalie introduced herself, I stared at my blonde friend tiredly. I could tell by the way Julia had grinned at me when she saw Skye that she'd found the next 'bachelor' she wanted me to hook up with. The idea was clearly written all over her face and I wondered if she'd ever learn her lesson – hadn't it been enough for me to nearly get forced upon by one of the suitors she'd been so eager to set me up with? At least this time I knew her target well enough to know that he wouldn't try and funny business. Well, at least not seriously anyway.

"So," Skye said, looking around my house with critical eyes. "This is where you live now."

"Yes, this is my home," I replied blandly. "And if you steal anything, I'll break you. In half."

He raised his hands in mock surrender as Natalie and Julia turned to me in surprise. They still had no idea who they were dealing with since I'd neglected to tell them that Skye had become a criminal for a living. "Hey, don't worry. I won't take anything from you. Friends are a no-go zone for me."

"I'm not just talking about my house, Skye. I'm talking about the entire neighbourhood," I said sternly. "I do not need any more drama and if you cause any then I'll toss you out on your ass faster than you can say 'curry'."

"Pinky promise," he said, turning to Julia who was gazing up at him like he was a Christmas present. "So you two are the ones who've been looking after Chelsea whilst she's been away from home? She never told me how gorgeous the both of you are!"

Natalie didn't seem as impressed by Skye as Julia was and regarded him with suspicious eyes. She folded her arms across her chest as she said, "Compliments aside, why are _you_ here? Aren't you the one that went missing shortly after Chelsea moved?"

"I was travelling," Skye said smoothly, his eyes shifting to me momentarily as I wandered over to my fridge. "I like meeting new people and seeing new places. I find it not only educational but inspiring too. I was fortunate enough to have been staying with Ellie and Trent when Chelsea came to visit and she kindly offered to let me stay with her."

Liar, my mind scoffed as I grabbed a can of cider from the fridge. I opened it and took a long swig before I asked, "How long are you intending to stay?"

"As long as you'll let me really. This is the perfect place to lie low for a while," he said before pointing at the can in my hand. "Could I have one of those?"

"No," I said, slamming the fridge shut for emphasis. I pointed towards the sofa and said, "You can sleep there. If you come into my room at night and try to snuggle me at any point like you did that one night at uni, I will cut off your favourite appendage."

"My hair?" he asked with a grin. He was clearly amused with my irritation.

I raised my left hand up for him to see before waggling my little finger at him. "Pinky promise."

He laughed out loud at me and said, "Oh Chelsea, you _are_ funny sometimes. It's one of the reasons why I love hanging out with you."

"I'm so glad you find my anger amusing," I replied sarcastically before glancing at my friends. "In case you haven't noticed, girls, Skye is a bit of a joker so try not to take anything he says too seriously. He has a penchant for dishonesty and deception."

"I wasn't joking when I said I like hanging out with you," Skye said, his tone becoming serious all of a sudden. "I genuinely mean it. Otherwise I wouldn't have come here at all. Besides, I intend to earn my keep while I'm here. I have a proposition for you, if you'll hear me out about it." He looked around the open plan living area before asking, "But first, where's the shower?"

Julia grinned and Natalie looked confused. Me? Well, I felt the vein in my temple begin to throb. "You're going to take a shower... now?"

"I feel all icky and disgusting from that boat journey," he explained tugging at his shirt so that it flapped against his skin. "Not a big fan of sea spray. I guess that's why I'll never become a fisherman – don't want to smell of salt and fish all the time."

I rolled my eyes and pointed to the bathroom door. "There's the bathroom. Make sure you don't make too much of a mess in there. And don't take too long either."

He chucked me in the chin before heading off in the direction of the bathroom, dropping his bag on the floor and pulling his shirt off as he went. I'm guessing he did this for effect, because Julia's emitted a high pitched fan-girl squeal while Natalie's eyes bugged out comically. Once the door was shut behind him, Julia turned to me and grabbed my shoulders in a vice grip.

"Is he single?" she asked me with the biggest grin I've ever seen her wear. It was actually a little scary.

"Hey, what about my brother?" Natalie said with a look of disgust.

Julia shot her a withering look. "I'm thinking about her, not me! Bimbo."

Natalie scoffed. "Me? The bimbo? You're the blonde one here."

"Anyway," Julia said as she gave me a little shake. "Is. He. Single?"

Stopping to think about this, it occurred to me that I didn't actually know. At university he had always been off with some girl or another and I'd always assumed he was a perpetual bachelor who went through women like he went through those camp looking shirts.

"I'm guessing he's single, yeah," I said with a grimace. "But I would never ever consider dating him, Jules. He's just so..."

"Pretty," Natalie said bluntly. "He's prettier than _me _for crying out loud."

"That's not hard," Julia said bitchily.

"Bite me," the red head snapped back.

"So _what_ if he's pretty?" Julia asked, turning her blue eyes back to me. "He's fucking cute. And he's charming too. You've already got a good relationship with him so I doubt it would take much for you to blur those lines before getting rid of them altogether."

"In case you've forgotten," Natalie interrupted. "Chelsea has a female boner for your cousin."

"Yes, well, Chelsea's got bad taste in men, obviously," Julia replied. "You've got this guy staying with you who is really good looking and so clearly into you but you're not going to do anything about it? Come on!"

I flinched. "Skye's not into me. Don't be disgusting."

"Why is it disgusting?"

I shrugged uncomfortably. "Because he's my friend and I've never seen him in that way. And I won't _ever _be able to see him in that way. Besides, I like my men to be real men; not metrosexual sissy boys who dress like Mick Jagger from the 60s."

"I must admit Chelsea," Natalie said with a smirk. "He does look pretty hot in those pants."

"Gross," I said with a shudder.

"Look, just... see how it goes with him. You never know; having him live with you might change your mind. It's nice to have a man around the house after all," Julia said sagely, though I think she was probably talking out of her ass. She linked arms with Natalie forcefully and said, "We're going as soon as he gets out of there. We need to leave the two of you alone."

"Oh, but before we go," Natalie said to me. "Will and Lily's 'engagement party' is happening two nights from now. Denny won't be there and Sabrina won't be there, so I expect **you** to be there. Lily's going to be announcing her bridesmaid choices and I'm pretty sure she's going to pick you as one of them."

"Oh, just great," I grumbled. "I'm going to be a bridesmaid at Lily's wedding and Maid of Honour at Ellie's. I hate weddings already."

The door to the bathroom swung open abruptly and all three of us turned to see Skye strut out of the room with nothing but a towel around his waist. I bristled with disdain while Natalie and Julia gawked.

"Oh, you two are still here?" Skye asked, glancing over his shoulder in mock surprise.

"Okay girls, time to go," I said, hustling them towards the door.

"He's skinnier than I thought," Julia whispered to me. "But still definitely hot."

"Yeah, I would... if I weren't already with Pierre," Natalie added, staring over my shoulder at him as he waggled his fingers in salute.

Once the two of them were out of the door, I closed it and locked it before slumping against it tiredly. When was my life going to start getting easier and less complicated? In the beginning I'd enjoyed all the hustle and bustle and excitement that my new life had shown me, but now I was just getting tired of it. Sullenly, I watched as Skye unpacked his duffle bag and pulled out a spare pair of underwear before hopping into them while the towel was still wrapped around his waist.

"Are you perving on me Chelsea Everett?" Skye asked me with mischievous eyes as he finally unwrapped the towel from his waist and tossed it on the floor. When I remained silent and simply glared at him for his sloth, he gingerly picked the towel up again and headed to the bathroom where he neatly hung it on the drying rail.

"That's better," I grumbled, picking myself up off the floor. "You won't find a wife if you don't clean up your act."

"Marriage is overrated," Skye commented as he pulled out a pair of jeans from his bag and tugged them on. I tumbled onto the sofa and grabbed the remote as he took a seat next to me, remaining shirtless. I shot a sideward glance at his hairless, bare chest and scoffed.

"You're like a little boy," I commented as I finally stopped channel surfing when I got to a movie I liked.

"One night with me and you'll be singing a different tune," he said suggestively as he draped his arm over my shoulders. "Julia's got the right idea about us you know."

I turned and glared at him again. "You heard everything she said, didn't you?"

"Like with that Sabrina girl, it was a little hard not to. She was talking so loudly," he replied with a smirk. "Country girls seem to have volume control issues. Remind me never to marry one."

"So what's this proposition you have for me?" I asked, needing to change the subject.

"Well, it involves me, you and a very large, comfy bed," he began, but stopped when he saw that I was glare at him again. "I'm just joking. Gosh. I'll tell you what the proposition is after you've told me a bit more about what's been going on here on these islands. Now, I know everything you've told Ellie, but I can't help wonder if maybe you tactfully censored certain parts so that she wouldn't worry too much."

"I didn't really want to get into too much detail with her about the attempted rape and the fire, but you pretty much know everything," I said with a sigh. "It's just that a lot has happened within the space of a year. After living an uncomplicated, drama-free existence for the first nineteen years of my life, I don't have the stamina to deal with all the problems on this island. Crazy heiresses, overprotective billionaires, alcoholic pop stars... I feel like I've stepped into a surreal world. Like Alice in Wonderland. And then there's Vaughn, who rejected me today when I tried to get him to stay."

"Good thing for me he did," Skye said with a grin. "Otherwise I might not have been able to stay over." I looked up at him sadly and his smile dropped. "You really like him, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure you're not just rebounding after what happened with Mark? You two were dating for six years. It's a little strange that you've fallen for someone else so quickly."

Hanging my head in shame, I let my hair cover my face as I said, "He's_ '_the one' Skye. At first I hated him, but now it's the complete opposite. Not just physically, but emotionally too. I never really got that intensity with Mark."

Skye stroked the back of my head comfortingly as he said, "So why did he reject you then?"

"He's scared of what that crazy bitch might do if she finds out," I replied. "He finally twigged that the reason she encouraged me to go on a date with that creep and set fire to my house was because of him. I guess he feels guilty about it."

"Want me to put out a hit on her?" he asked. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not and looked up at him in shock. I relaxed when I saw the amused smile he was wearing. "Did you believe me for a second there?"

"You're a criminal now Skye," I said unsurely. "I don't know what you're capable of anymore."

"I'm capable of a great many things, my dear," he said as he ruffled my hair affectionately. "Like all humans I have the capacity for evil as well as good, but murder is not something I'm able to participate in."

"I know."

"There is _one_ thing that I can do for you though," he said quietly. "While my main magic trick is to steal the hearts of unsuspecting women, I can also make their dreams come true if they let me."

I pulled a face. "Are you trying to be cryptic again?"

"Is it working?"

"Possibly," I said, giving him a funny look. "So what's with this dreams business then? What are you, a genie in a lamp?"

"I have many names, but I would prefer if you refer to me as the Phantom Skye," he said magnanimously, outstretching his other arm outwards as if he were presenting himself to me. He looked like an idiot.

"You're an idiot," I told him.

"Now, now, you should play along or else the magic won't work," he said, wagging his finger at me. "I will play the role of your Fairy Godbrother soon and then you'll be eating your words."

"And, pray tell, how do you intend to act as my Fairy God_brother_?" I said, trying not to laugh at his stupidity.

"Well, one of my favourite spells in my repertoire may be just the thing you need to get your new beau to get off his rear-end and claim you," he said, tapping me on the nose. "You'll suddenly find his ardour renewed and his need to have you for himself irresistible. However, it will only work if you play along with my plan and not distract me during the process. I will need your full co-operation and obedience. Is that clear?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" I asked.

He smiled enigmatically at me before saying, "The quickest way to make a man claim what he wants is to threaten to take it away from him. It's a spell called 'Jealousy' and it works _every_ time."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Okay, so from now on I'm going to be putting my ANs at the bottom of the page like I do with my Seeing Things story, just so I don't accidently spoil things for the readers. But yeah, thanks for waiting guys! I've had this chapter written for a couple of days now, but I've had to keep rewriting it because I've never been happy enough with it. Hence why it's a bit shorter than the others. As always, thank you thank you thank you for the reviews and thank you for your patience!

I've been stretching out the romance between Chelsea and Vaughn for such a long time in this story that I'm wondering if I'll _ever_ get the two of them together. I've just kept throwing obstacles in their way and making it difficult for the pair of them simply because I like watching my Chelsea!Muse squirm. However, hopefully these next few chapters will sort that. I've already started thinking of this part of the story as the 'jealousy arc', simply because it's mostly fixating on the Skye/Chelsea/Vaughn situation while the others issues take a backseat.

Anyway, again thank you for the reviews and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	41. Casting the Spell

**Chapter Forty One**

_Casting the Spell_

I hadn't realised how much work Chelsea actually did until I saw it with my own two eyes the next day. Waking up at the crack of dawn, she was up and about before the sun had even risen. The sound of her clattering about in the kitchen permeating my deep sleep just enough to make me open one eye and watch her as she went about her daily morning routine. She washed the dishes from the night before, put more clothes in the washing machine and sifted through her post before finally heading to the door without eating any breakfast. Wearing a thick, oversized jumper, a pair of old worn out jeans and industrial black wellington boots, she went out the door and left me alone in the darkness once more to contemplate the idleness of my existence.

Having seen her wake up so early to start work, I felt bad for remaining in bed and slowly forced myself to leave the warm confines of my cosy sanctuary. Once dressed and at least half-awake, I left the house in search of her and found her squatting in her muddy field, pulling up weeds with a pair of dirt encrusted gardening gloves. There was a smudge of dirt on her face and she was frowning in concentration as she gently pulled a weed out from near one of the newly planted crops and tossed it into a pile a couple of feet away. When she spotted me watching her, she jumped.

"Goddess Skye, you scared the shit out of me," she snapped before moving onto another weed.

"Do you do this every morning?" I asked her, my voice still husky from sleep.

She looked up at me briefly. "Every morning."

I looked at her in awe for a moment before asking, "How?"

"How what?"

"How can you do this _every_ morning?"

She giggled and threw her hair back in an attempt to get it out of her face without touching it with her gloves. "This is my job. If I don't do this then I won't earn any money to live on. It's pretty simple really."

"Surely you must take a break on some days, right?" I asked her, looking out at the sprawling fields and wondering how long it took for her to weed the entire thing. She was moving so slowly and working with such care that it wouldn't have surprised me if it took all day.

"I would have taken a break this winter, but the fire cost me an entire seasons worth of crops. Winter is relatively difficult to grow plants in, for obvious reasons, but I need the money since I wasn't able to sell anything last season," she explained as she tossed another weed into the pile. "If you pity me so much then you can help me do the weeding if you like."

I shook my head in response without even thinking about it. "There's no way you're going to get me to crawl around in the dirt with you."

She paused and shot me a coquettish look. "Is that so?"

I smiled slyly at her. "Well, there's one way you could persuade me, but I doubt we'd get any work done."

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Good thing we won't be doing it then."

"Oh how you wound me," I said mock-dramatically. When I saw her smile at this, I leant against the fence and asked, "So are you going to tell me a bit more about your lover-boy then?"

Chelsea rolled her eyes. "You're not going on about that again are you?"

"I want to help you," I told her earnestly.

Sighing, she sat back on her haunches and turned to me with a sad smile. "I don't need any help Skye. If Vaughn doesn't want to get involved with me anymore then so be it. I'm not the sort of person to play games and neither is he."

"Good thing you won't be playing the games then," I replied. "It will be me doing all the work. So tell me a bit about him. I promise you that what I do will work so well that he literally won't be able to keep his hands off of you."

"Well," she began hesitantly. "He's usually at Mirabelle's Animal Store when he's not around here, but I'm not sure if he went back to the mainland already or not."

"I can at least go and check," I said with a winning smile. "Now give me a reason to go over there."

She glanced around the farm thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "You could always go over there and pick up some more chicken feed for me. I'm nearly out and I was planning to go round there today to restock."

"Okay, I'll go and get some for you. Though... I may need some money for it."

Her expression went deadpan and she grumbled irately before tugging her gloves off and throwing them on the ground. I watched as she stomped into the house and came back out carrying something. Pulling my hand out, she dropped a handful of coins and notes into it.

"There's more than enough there for two sacks," she said with a scowl.

"Is the store likely to be open at this time?"

She shrugged. "Probably. Mirabelle wakes pretty early to milk her cows."

With a nod and a smile, I turned and headed across the bridge into town. The sun had just started its slow ascent into the sky and it highlighted the crystal like frost that had settled on the islands. Everything looked like they'd been sprinkled with diamond dust and the whole town looked like something out of a fantasy novel. It really was quite startling. I'd never seen it grow as cold as that back in the city, since the general heat coming from all the buildings was enough to stop frost from settling for too long.

When I reached the town centre I realised that I'd neglected to ask Chelsea exactly _where_ the store was. Since it was still too early for people to be up and about, I didn't have anyone to ask and I ended up aimlessly wandering the streets until I finally saw a converted barn with a horse shoe hanging on the door and a sign saying 'Animal Store'. Guessing I'd found the right place, I headed up the path and was about to push the door open when suddenly it swung open by itself and I found myself face to face with Julia. Or rather, Julia's breasts. I stood at the bottom step completely mesmerised by the sight of them for a moment before I finally brought my eyes upwards.

"Good morning! I didn't know you were an early riser too," she said warmly. "Are you doing an errand for Chelsea?"

Trying not to look down at her beautiful bust again, I replied, "She told me to pick up some more chicken feed."

"Oh, well, my Ma can help you with that," she said, walking out and holding the door open for me. "I'm on my way to see my boyfriend Elliot, but I'll be back in a bit if you need help carrying it over to Chelsea's farm."

"I'll be fine," I said, taking the weight of the door. "But thank you for offering."

She grinned at me before hurrying off down the path, her curly blonde hair bouncing along behind her as she went. I'd always been a sucker for blondes with big racks and I must confess that I was a little disappointed to hear that she had a boyfriend. As I entered the store I was in the middle of wondering what type of man was lucky enough to have such a babe for a girlfriend, but my mind went blank when I saw who was sitting directly opposite the door from me.

Ellie hadn't been lying when she'd described Vaughn as a silver-haired hunk. Dressed like a stereotypical cowboy, it was clear even as he was sitting that he was a big guy. I'd always considered myself quite tall but I could tell just from looking at him that he was probably even taller than I was and all his work as a rancher had left him well built and sturdy in comparison to my lanky frame. Feeling my masculinity threatened, I threw my shoulders back and tilted my chin upwards slightly as I strutted towards the counter where a matronly woman stood sorting and arranging the jars.

"Oh goodness!" the woman exclaimed when she turned around and spotted me. "My my my, you're a new face! Who might you be? Are you by any chance related to Eric?"

Who's Eric? I shook my head and said, "My name's Skye. I'm a friend of Chelsea's."

The woman suddenly looked taken aback and I saw her glance in Vaughn's direction. I could see Vaughn frowning in the corner of my eye and I knew that the mention of Chelsea's name had caught his attention. He'd even closed the magazine he'd been reading.

"Oh I see," the woman said gently. "I'm sorry about the confusion. It's just that you have the same peculiar hair colour as my nephew over there and I naturally assumed that you were somehow related to my brother-in-law, Eric. Though, looking at you, you're probably far too pretty to be related to anyone in our family."

"I wouldn't say that," I replied smoothly. "Your daughter is very beautiful. I'm guessing you must be Julia's mother."

"Yes. Mirabelle," she said, outstretching her hand.

"She clearly gets her good looks from you," I added, causing the older woman to blush and glance at Vaughn again.

"Well aren't you charming?" she said shyly. "Now I'm _certain_ you're not related to him."

"I don't know about that," Vaughn interjected, folding his arms across his chest defensively. "Dad can be pretty charming when he wants something from someone."

I could tell from the expression he was wearing that he already didn't like me. His brows were pulled together in a fearsome sort of scowl and his mouth was drawn into a grim line. It was a reaction I was generally used to getting from men upon first meeting them. I'm not sure what it is about me, but other guys seem to always hate me in the beginning; maybe it's because they feel threatened by me in much the same way I felt threatened by Vaughn when I first saw him.

"You must be Vaughn," I said with a smirk. "I've heard a lot about _you_ from Chelsea."

The cowboy made no reply and simply went on frowning at me.

After a moment of silence Mirabelle clucked her tongue at him before asking me, "So what brings you here today? I'm guessing Chelsea probably sent you here to pick something up."

"I'm actually here to collect some sacks of chicken feed. She's nearly run out and I figured I'd make myself useful since I'm staying with her. It's the least I could do."

"Well you've come to the right place for that," she said with a warm smile that echoed her daughter's. "How many sacks would you like?"

"Two," I said, pulling the money out of my pocket and putting it down on the counter in front of her. I had no idea how much the chicken feed cost. "She gave me this to pay you with. I hope it's enough."

"Oh that's plenty," Mirabelle said, scooping the money up and counting it. She pulled out a couple of the notes and slid them back over to me before entering the transaction on her till. As the cash register let out a sharp ring, she turned to Vaughn and said, "Go get the sacks will you?"

Wordlessly, Vaughn rose to his feet and headed out the back door, but not before he saw me smirking at him knowingly. The man literally bristled when he saw my smirk and it caused me to smile with more smugness. It was easier than I'd thought it would be. From the way Chelsea had described him Vaughn wasn't the type to get jealous or riled up about her at all, but she had clearly underestimated his regard for her since he was not only glaring at me, but doing it viciously as well.

When he came back with the two sacks of chicken feed, he dumped them at my feet haphazardly, leaving me to stare down at them with trepidation. Those things looked heavy. While Vaughn may have been able to carry the both of them at the same time, I wasn't sure I could do the same.

Again feeling that my masculinity was in jeopardy, I straightened my shoulders out and asked, "That it?"

"Oh, well we have bigger ones," Mirabelle interjected helpfully.

I felt the corner of my eye twitch and I thought I saw the glimmer of a smile on Vaughn's face.

I shook my head. "No, this is fine I guess. I was expecting them to be bigger though."

"Can you manage the both of them?" Vaughn asked gruffly. I could hear the amusement in his voice and I began to feel further emasculated.

"I'll take them one by one," I replied tightly. "I'm more of a brain over a brawn type of guy."

Vaughn's slight smile vanished altogether at hearing this and I felt myself smirking again, though this time it wasn't just for show. I was already beginning to see why Chelsea hadn't liked this guy in the beginning.

Taking a deep breath, I bent down to pick the sack of chicken feed up before pulling it up onto my shoulder. Holy hell, it was heavy. As it rested on my shoulder I knew that I would have to visit a chiropractor afterwards. For a moment I lamented my lack of muscle and considered going to a gym, but when the door opened again and Chelsea walked in I found myself rejoicing. Her eyes were wide open in alarm and she quickly rushed forward to help me offload the sack from my shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she asked me angrily. "You're going to do your back in if you try to carry it like that!" She had completely ignored Vaughn and was fussing over me with such an adorable expression on her face; she was doing exactly what I'd hoped she'd do.

"Sorry, I didn't realise just how heavy it was until it was on my shoulder," I said, playing up the pain. "I saw the hulk over there carrying both bags on his shoulders and thought I could do it too."

"Well you're not built for manual labour," Chelsea said, ruffling my hair. She glanced up at Vaughn before adding, "Sorry if he's been causing you any trouble."

"No trouble at all," Vaughn replied, taking a step back. He looked more disturbed by Chelsea's appearance than I'd expected and I saw just how much of affect the two of them had on each other. It's quite interesting really. The dynamic Chelsea had with Mark was completely different from the one she had with Vaughn. While Chelsea and Mark had seemed more like best friends, Chelsea and Vaughn were like lovers that didn't need to speak to communicate – they did it through their eyes. And Chelsea's eyes were too focused on him.

Needing to distract her, I reached up and wiped the dirt smudge off of her cheek. She immediately looked at me and broke eye contact with Vaughn, her baby blues blinking at me dumbly. "You had some dirt on your cheek."

"Erm, thanks," Chelsea replied, her cheeks colouring shyly. She rubbed her cheek again for good measure before saying, "I'm sorry I sent you here to get _two_ sacks. I kind of forgot that they were heavy until I tried to pick up the one I've still got back home."

"It's okay sweetie," I said. She bristled at my term of endearment and I flashed my eyes at her to try to communicate to her what I was doing. She looked puzzled for a moment before finally her eyes widened with realisation and I saw her glance nervously at Vaughn.

"We're just going to... erm... go. Now," she stammered nervously, grabbing one of the sacks and hoisting it up so that she was carrying it in a hug hold. "See ya."

I watched her hurry out of the shop anxiously and found myself smiling. She was so fricken adorable. I'd never seen her act like a shy schoolgirl before and I was amused by the fact that the Clint Eastwood wannabe was responsible for it. Maintaining my grin, I turned back to Vaughn as I asked, "Ain't she cute?"

"As a button," Mirabelle replied. "I hope you'll treat her right. Poor girl's been through enough hardship these past few weeks, so it's nice to see she's got a boyfriend around to help her out."

"Oh, well, I'm not dating her," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck to exaggerate my shyness. "I'd like to, but I don't think I'm her type."

"Nonsense!" Mirabelle said with a wave of her hand. "I don't know you all that well, but you seem like a nice young man. I'm guessing the two of you know each other from school or something?"

"I went to university with her," I replied with a short nod. "She's one of my best friends."

"Oh, so you're not that ex-boyfriend of hers are you?" Mirabelle asked, her eyes widening.

Eh... so everyone knew about Mark? I let the question hang for a moment before smiling and saying, "If only I could be so lucky. A girl like her would never consider dating a rogue like me."

"Well she would be a fool if she didn't," she replied with a grin. "I'll get my daughter to put in a good word for you, if you like. She's quite close to Chelsea, as you probably already know."

"Pretty sure Julia's probably already done that," Vaughn added bitterly.

"Yes, well, I guess I should be getting back now," I said, smirking at Vaughn again as I picked up the feed sack awkwardly and turned towards the door. "It was nice to meet the both of you."

Leaving the store, I was careful as I went down the stairs at the door and waddled my way down the street in the direction I knew Chelsea's house was. I didn't quite manage to get to the end of the street though, as I was stopped when I heard someone calling out to me from back in the direction I came. Turning slightly so I could at least see who it was, I was a little surprised to see that it was Vaughn.

He jogged to catch up with me before snatching the sack out of my grasp and putting it on his shoulder as he said, "Sorry, it was just too painful watching you struggle along with it."

"Thanks," I replied sullenly as we walked along the street together at a slower pace. "I'm sure Chelsea appreciates your help too."

"Does she have some sort of fetish or something?" he asked bluntly, causing me to choke on my own spit in surprise. He waited for me to stop coughing before he said, "She seems to have a thing for guys with our... peculiarity."

"I don't know if Chelsea has a thing for our hair, per se, but I'm hoping she does if it makes her like me more. I've wanted to get into her pants for years now but Mark's been in the way all the time," I replied. I was being completely truthful when I said that, though I usually wouldn't have said it in such an offhand way to a complete stranger.

"Her pants?" he grunted.

"Yeah. You know those sexy little denim things she runs around in during the warmer seasons? Those pants. Drive my effing crazy," I said, remembering the last time I'd seen her in them. "She's got a great set of legs. They got even sexier since she started living out here, no doubt caused by all the extra exercise she's getting. I'm actually a little jealous that you get to see them so often. Or haven't _you_ noticed them?"

I was laying down a challenge to him with that question; if he responded positively then I could label him as just another misogynistic pig like myself, but if he didn't then I could call him either a liar or a fag. I was surprised that he chose the former.

"I've noticed them," he replied. "I just don't fixate on them. Don't need the distraction in my life."

"You see Chelsea as a distraction?" Again, I asked a question that put him on the spot and I could see that he was clearly getting uncomfortable with my candid way of pressuring him. "The only reason I ask is because I want to know if I'm going to have competition for he, and considering how much she's talked about you I think you're probably it."

"She won't be interested in your sort," he replied confidently, glancing at me through narrowed slits. "Chelsea's not that type of girl."

"Or so you think," I said mischievously. "I've known Chelsea longer than you have and I know her habits a bit better. She's by no means fickle, but she's a pragmatist and will give up on lost causes."

"The reason I said she wouldn't be interested in you is because she's not interested in quick screws like you obviously are," he replied bitingly. "And if you're not going to be serious about her then you shouldn't bother trying to get involved with her at all. She's already been through enough this year."

The way Vaughn was defending Chelsea's honour was actually really cute and I was silently rooting for him in spite of myself. I knew full well that I was painting myself as the villain in that whole situation, but if it meant these two love-losers managed to finally get together then it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

"Well, we'll see cowboy," I said as we crossed the bridge to the farm. "As I said, Chelsea's a pragmatist and I'll bet she's been feeling pretty lonely living here all by herself. I bet she's extra frisky now too. I mean, she was in a relationship for six years and then had to get used to living alone and not having any sex at all after the break up. She's probably fit to burst!"

Hearing this, Vaughn dumped the sack of feed down on the floor in front of him before grabbing me by the scruff of my shirt menacingly. "You better watch what you say about her in front of me. I've had enough of your sort making eyes at her and trying to 'get into her pants' without having any genuine feelings towards her. If you hurt her, I swear to the Harvest Goddess that I'll break you in half myself and feed you to my Dobermans back home."

"Oooh, I'm scared." No, really, I was.

He let go of my shirt with a little push before adding, "And don't try to ingratiate yourself with my family. I won't tolerate you sniffing around my cousin either; I saw the way you were looking at Julia's chest just before you came into the store earlier."

"Oh, don't worry, I don't wreck relationships," I replied with a sniff. "I draw the line at breaking couples up. I do have _some_ honour, in spite of what you may think."

"If you have _any_ honour at all then you'd leave Chelsea alone," he bit back.

"Chelsea's single, so she's fair game," I replied, picking up the sack and walking away from him. "If you're so concerned about her then why don't you try stop me? If you've got the balls to, that is."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Like always, thank you for the reviews and follows/favs etc guys! They really do mean a lot! Sorry I'm not updating as quickly as I used to – I'm just trying to space out my chapter publishing a bit more so that I don't burn myself out too much.

I'll be abroad for a week or more over Christmas, since I'm going to Switzerland to see the fam before I head off to Japan, so I probably won't post anything up until the new year, but I'll try and do one last update before I go.

Pelkasauras -Cherry3456: Thanks for saying that! It's really difficult to establish their relationship sometimes, simply because Skye is such a perv/weirdo. I'll be getting a bit more into his character next chapter, as it'll explain why he is so attached to Chelsea in the first place.

But yeah, thank you for your support everyone and I'm glad you're still enjoying it!

Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!


	42. Doubts

**Chapter Forty Two**

_Doubts_

Having hurried out of Mirabelle's store as quickly as I could, I was panting for breath when I got back to the farm. My breath rose in cloudy wisps through the cold morning air and I watched them rise thoughtfully as I tried not to remember the expression Vaughn had been wearing when I'd walked into the store. It was impossible not to though; he clearly didn't want me there. It was reminiscent of the looks he used to give me when we'd first met and I felt a dull ache in my chest at the thought that we were back to that. Resting against the wall of my house, I closed my eyes and tried to remind myself that he was doing it for my own good. Misguided, yes, but it was for me.

"Chelsea?"

I didn't move from my spot against the wall as Skye approached and dumped the other sack of chicken feed on the floor next to my one. He gave my shoulder a quick nudge before asking, "You haven't died have you?"

Opening my eyes only slightly, I shot him a dirty look as I said, "Takes more than that to kill me."

"More than what?" he asked blankly. "Vaughn?"

"I hate this," I said with a sigh before pushing away from the wall and grabbing the corner of one of the bird feed sacks. I dragged it along behind me towards the chicken coop before pulling out my pocket knife and cutting an opening in the top. A few of the pellets spilled out as I dipped my hand in to scoop some into my palm. They settled into the groove of my hand and I paused to look up at Skye. "Want to try?"

"Try what?"

"Feeding them, the chickens," I said.

He frowned thoughtfully before nodding. Taking his hand, I put the feed into it before ushering him towards the door of the coop. He had to stoop as he entered, looking around nervously as if he were about to be attacked.

"Where are they?" he asked in an anxious whisper. "They don't bite do they?"

"No," I said with a smile. "They peck." He went whiter than usual at this and I giggled as I asked, "You're not scared of chickens are you?"

"I'm scared of wildlife in general," he replied.

"Don't be scared," I said, giving him a little nudge as one of the hens approached him and started pecking the floor around his feet. He scuttled back an inch but I stopped him and pointed at the feed. Remembering it, he pretty much tipped the whole palm full of feed onto the floor and my hen scurried back with a cluck of annoyance. "Tsk, you were meant to sift it. Not just drop the whole lot of it."

"Sorry," he said bashfully. "I'm not an animal expert like your lover-boy, after all."

"I know you're not," I said, my tone softening. I poked my head out of the coop door to grab another handful of feed before showing him how to spread the pellets out. "Anyway, why are you so concerned about getting me together with Vaughn? You've gone to a lot of trouble for me recently and it's left me wondering what's in it for you."

He smiled enigmatically. "It's my little secret."

"Oh come on Skye!" I exclaimed in frustration. "You know all about my life; you should tell me a bit more about yours."

"Okay, but can we... like... get out of here? It smells like bird shit," he complained.

"Yeah, well, that's because it's a chicken coop."

Once we were back inside, he sat down at my kitchen table and peered up at me as I put the kettle on and pulled out two red mugs. There was something very childlike in the way that he was watching me and he looked slightly dazed, as if remembering something. I reached out to ruffle his hair, but he swatted me away and said, "So, what was the question again? I've forgotten."

"Why are you so interested in helping me?" I asked as I rested against the kitchen counter. The kettle grumbled noisily as the water boiled.

"It's a long story," he began with a sigh. "It's all to do with a girl back home."

"Oh?"

"Her name was Jill." He scratched the side of his face nervously. "She... well... You look a lot like her."

I made a face at him. "So you're helping me because I look a lot like a girl you knew back home?"

"I didn't just _know_ her. I was in love with her," he explained awkwardly. "She was my first love, I guess."

"And that's not creepy at all," I said sarcastically. "So you're helping me out because you think I look like this Jill chick that you used to fancy."

"It's not just the way you look. At first I couldn't leave you alone simply because of the physical similarity between the two of you. Same height, almost the same hair, same big blue eyes and overall tomboyish aura." He chuckled when he saw me glare at him. "Yes, you're a tomboy Chelsea. Don't try to deny it. You don't care as much about your appearance as other girls do and I like that. It's refreshing to see a plain face without a speck of make-up. I see it as being more honest with not only the people around you, but with yourself. And that's what I liked about Jill. She was honest. Upfront about everything. She would say exactly what she was thinking all the time and if I ever wanted someone to tell me their honest opinion about something, she would give it quite freely without a second thought. Granted she babbled a lot of the time, but she was cute and I always felt just that bit more content every time I saw her."

"So what happened?"

"She passed away," he said. The kettle began to faintly scream in the background but I couldn't move. "She went abroad to South East Asia for a holiday with her parents and she came back with malaria. We all thought she just had the flu and she would always brush off our concern and say she was fine. It wasn't until it was too late that we realised that she wasn't fine. Cerebral malaria. She started seizing one day and fell, hitting her head on a nearby table. And that was it."

I didn't know what to say in response to his admission. I was speechless and overwhelmed with guilt for making him relive that memory. He stared down morosely at the table in front of him and I felt a lump in my throat as I tried to think of something comforting to say to him.

"So you see," he said, turning to look up at me. "When I look at you, I see her. I feel like I want to protect you, since I couldn't protect her."

"But I'm not her," I said quietly.

"I know. You're two different people and I've seen the differences. You're more grounded than she is, for starters. She was a dippy little thing, never able to make her mind up and always working herself into a tizzy about things that didn't really matter. Secondly, you're probably stronger here," he said, pointing to his temple for emphasis. "She wasn't a strong person emotionally. When she was upset she turned into a cry-baby that needed constant comfort. You're not like that at all – you're actually kind of restrained when it comes to your emotions. Control, control, control. So much control. It's one of the reasons I admire you, as well as one of the reasons I worry about you too."

"You don't need to worry about me," I started to say, but was cut off before I could say more.

"Exactly. You're so controlled," he said with a grin. "You've always got it together in spite of everything that's happened to you. You're so strong. But anyway, just so we're clear, your similarity to Jill doesn't mean I'm in love with you. It's just that it makes me want to make sure you're happy. Almost in a brotherly way."

"A brother wouldn't want to get me into bed," I pointed out.

He smiled. "I did say _almost,_ didn't I?"

I bit my lip thoughtfully as I stared at him. After hearing about Jill for the first time, I realised that Skye's behaviour towards women was probably because he wasn't quite over the memory of her yet. It explained his constant philandering and dislike of being in relationships in general and I found myself feeling sorry for him for the first time since I'd known him. I'd never seen any reason to pity him before, since he'd always seemed quite content with his life, but now I saw him in a new light. I should have realised it before really; he was actually really lonely.

After that, I changed the subject for his benefit. I wanted to distract him so that he wouldn't have to remember Jill again, though I guess that was a pretty pointless exercise since I looked like her. Regardless, I tried to keep busy as he followed me around the farm whilst I did my chores. I finished feeding the chickens and claiming the eggs from the coop and left him in charge of cleaning the eggs up as I went into the barn and cared for my livestock.

By the time lunchtime rolled around, Skye came looking for me and whined, "I'm hungry."

"Go make yourself something to eat then," I said, barely looking up from the cow udder I was milking.

When I heard him laugh I looked up and found him watching me with a strange smile on his face. Leaning his head against the doorframe, he looked reminiscent somehow. Had he always been this way and I'd never noticed? I could tell just by looking at him that he was thinking of her and somehow it left me feeling awkward and guilty. It's silly right? I felt sorry for looking so much like her, and yet I probably wouldn't have become friends with him if I didn't.

"Stop smiling at me like that," I told him sharply. "Its weirding me out."

As if he'd been caught doing something naughty, he stood upright and blushed. "Sorry. I didn't realise I was doing it."

"Anyway, I'm done here now. Give me a few minutes to get this milk into some bottles and then you can come with me on my delivery run. I need to drop off some eggs and milk to Nick's diner, so we can grab something to eat there," I said as I rose from my stool and headed back to the house.

After bottling the milk and putting the eggs into the egg carton I packed them away into two separate delivery baskets and handed one of them to Skye. "Don't drop it."

"Or what?"

"I'll make you repay me with your body," I said with a scowl.

"Kinky."

"No, I'd pimp you out to the sex-starved biddies around the island," I said before reaching up and flicking his forehead. "To make up for the lost profits."

Setting out together, we stopped into Chen's store and Pierre's house before finally heading to Nick's diner. Skye went in ahead of me, lured by the smell of food cooking, but he paused at the door and I accidently bumped into his back face-first.

"What the feg," I exclaimed, rubbing my nose as he glanced over his shoulder at me briefly before looking straight ahead. "Why did you stop?"

"Prepare yourself sweet pea," he said in a hushed tone before continuing on inside.

When I passed the threshold, I understood why. Sitting at a table with his back to the door was Vaughn. His Stetson lay on the table next to him as he ate whilst reading a book which set open on the other side. He didn't notice our entrance and didn't look up so part of me wanted to turn tail and run, but then Skye grabbed my free hand and flashed me an encouraging smile. With my heart fluttering madly and my friend urging me on, I walked ahead towards the counter with my basket whilst Skye kept a hold of my hand.

"Afternoon Chelsea," Nick said with an unsure smile. I saw his brown eyes flick upwards to Skye before settling on our joined hands. Then, to my surprise, I saw his eyes slide towards Vaughn.

"Here are your eggs and milk," I said in a rush, putting the basket down on the counter whilst trying to tug my hand out of Skye's grip. Nick's attention was quickly regained as he eyed the basket. "You know the usual address to send the remittance advice to."

"Ah, yes, about that," he said, opening the cash register. "Is it okay if I pay you in cash today rather than direct debit? I'm in the middle of changing banks and I want to make sure you get paid on time. You know how unreliable some banks are during the whole change over process."

"Oh, that's fine then," I said as he pulled out the money he owed me and placed the notes in my hand. "Thanks.

"No, thank _you_," Nick said with a grin. "It's nice to get fresh eggs and milk for once." He looked up at Skye once before asking in a lowered voice, "Is that your new boyfriend then? Relative of Vaughn's is he?"

"Oh, no no," I said with a quick shake of my head. "We're just friends."

"For now," Skye said, wrapping his arm around my waist possessively. "I'm working on changing that."

"Skye!" I exclaimed, trying to push his face away from mine as he leaned into me with a flirty smile.

For some mad reason, I found my eyes darting towards Vaughn and I felt my heart leap when I saw that he was not only watching us, but he was scowling darkly. His spoon had paused halfway to his mouth and he was glaring at Skye so thunderously that I was actually a little scared that I'd see a repeat of the Mark vs. Skye fight. When he stopped focusing on Skye and looked at me, he dropped his spoon in his bowl noisily and gathered his things up before leaving in a hurry.

"Well well, who would have thought he'd act like a little bitch," Skye muttered as soon as the door closed behind Vaughn's retreating back. "I thought he would have at least tried to come at me like Mark did."

I punched Skye in the arm. "Stop it." I turned to Nick and said, "Two bowls of Yaki Udon and some tempura to share please."

"That'll be 900G then," he replied, outstretching his hand towards me. He was still staring at Skye though and I let out a frustrated sigh before pulling out one of the notes he'd just given me and putting it into his hand. He broke out of his little daze and handed me the change before saying, "Take a seat. I'll bring it over when it's done."

When I passed the table that Vaughn had been sat it, I felt a twinge my chest. I didn't want this. Vaughn's expression when he looked at me earlier was so angry that I'd been unable to move or even do anything. It was quite clear to me that Skye's plan was working, but I knew that it was probably causing only more damage to my relationship with Vaughn. The angrier Vaughn got, the greater the gap between us became.

Skye pulled out a seat for me before sitting on the opposite side. Resting his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together, he smiled smugly as he said, "It's all going according to plan. You saw the way he was glaring at us earlier, didn't you?"

I scrunched my face up. "I can't do this."

"Well you don't really have to do anything honey. Just look pretty and smile when I tell you to," Skye said.

"No, I mean, I can't do this to him. I can't go along with this jealousy thing," I said. "This is hurting him and it's only making things worse between us."

Skye rolled his eyes. "It's not. Didn't I tell you? This is just forcing him to make a move, and I know he will. Don't you understand? I'm making him think of me as the bad guy so he feels the need to rescue you from me."

"Skye, I can't," I said firmly. "This method forcing him to take action is dishonest and I can't bear to see him look at me like that again. So please, listen to me and drop this plan of yours. It won't work and I almost don't _want_ it to work. If anything happens with him, it will be because we both agree it's the right time; not because his hand was forced."

"God, you're such a soft touch," he replied, pouting slightly. "You really do love him, don't you? To be worrying about him so much."

"I'm sorry," I said, bowing my head slightly.

"Well, it's a little too late now anyway," Skye said with a shrug. "I won't do anything further to aggravate him, but he's already got it in his mind that I'm going to do wrong by you so it's pretty much irreversible until I leave."

"Yeah, I get that, just don't do anything him to make him jealous again."

Nick arrived with our noodles shortly afterwards and as Skye tucked into his meal I looked out of the nearby window towards where Mirabelle's store was. Part of me wanted to go across the road and explain to Vaughn that my relationship with Skye wasn't like that and that I wasn't interested in him, but when I imagined his reaction I found my resolve to clear up the misunderstand evaporate quickly. I knew how he would react: he'd sullenly say that it's none of his business and find some excuse to turn me away or get out of my sight.

When I slammed my head against the table without warning Skye jumped. "Hey, what did you do that for?"

"My heart hurts," I said.

"Your heart?"

"Yeah. I feel so unsatisfied right now."

He played with a strand of my hair that was on the table. "Then why don't you let me go along with my plan?"

"Because my moral compass won't allow it," I said, burying my face into my arm.

"Your udon is going to get cold."

"Why does it have to be this way? Why can't things be simple?"

Skye tapped me on the top of my head and I slowly looked up at him. He was smiling weirdly at me again as he said, "Because simplicity is boring."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Thanks for the reviews everyone! Hope you all had a good Christmas! I certainly did. Too much FOOD! Also kind of psyched 'cus my certificate of eligibility which I'll need for my visa finally came through, so it's pretty much official that I'm definitely going to Japan in February! I have a feeling that 2013 is going to be an awesome year in comparison to 2012! Not looking forward to turning 23 though. -_-"

_-LatteCurlz_: I really want to know what your non-fanfic story is about! Send me a PM or something! I'm really interested!

_-Anonymous_: That's great that you're starting to write so young and I'm flattered that my story is inspiring you! I hope I'll get the chance to read what you've written. I may do a Neil x Rio story, but I may change the setting a bit. I've had a hankering to write AU stories recently.

PS. I apologise if this chapter seems slightly disjointed. My Chelsea!Muse was giving me problems. But I think it's official that I love Skye. I totally want to get him together with a nice girl now... _ Anyway, onwards and upwards!

I wish you guys all a prosperous new year!


	43. Haze

**Chapter Forty Three**

_Haze_

"Skye, do me up?"

I turned around to see Chelsea with her back turned to me, the zipper to her dress temptingly falling open and revealing the bare skin underneath.

I hadn't expected Chelsea to look as beautiful as she did that night. After seeing her run around the farm wearing baggy clothes and covered in dirt, I don't think I was mentally prepared enough to see her looking as stunning as she did later that evening when she started getting ready for that engagement party she'd been invited to. Humming happily to herself as she hurried around her house to get ready, she paid no attention to me as she hurried from the bathroom to her bedroom in naught but a towel wrapped around her. She merely told me to get ready to go out before closing the door behind her.

When she stepped out half an hour later and turned around to reveal the tantalising sight of her undone dress, I actually found my resolve to not make a move on her wavering. Back home she had never paid much attention when preparing to go out to parties or go out clubbing with our old gang; a slick of lip gloss maybe, a short skirt worn on certain occasions. Very minimal effort was put in and I admired that. But that night, a night that was fateful not only for her but for me too, she went all out. Wearing a dress that I was sure didn't originally belong to her and with her face immaculately made up, she looked stunning.

Her brown locks were pulled up into a messy ballerina bun, exposing her long neck and showing off the new angles to her face that I hadn't noticed before. Although it was winter, her skin had a sun-kissed glow that complimented her rosy cheeks and her eyes were alluringly lined with thick kohl which further emphasised their startling blueness. The dress she wore was a dark burgundy colour and clung to her curves so wonderfully that it didn't take much to imagine how amazing she would have looked naked.

I think my tongue probably rolled out of my mouth.

"Oi," she said peevishly, reaching over her shoulder helplessly. "Help pull this zipper up!"

"You... you look..." I stumbled to say as I approached her nervously. "I've never seen you look like that before."

One of eyebrows arched upwards as she half turned to look at me. "Like what?"

"Edible," I replied as I reached out and pulled the zip closed quickly. I let go almost as soon as the zipper reached the end of the track, as if fearing being burned. She looked _that_ hot.

With the dress done up, she turned around and tapped me on the nose with a bright smile. "Not such a tomboy now, am I?"

"Definitely not," I said, clearing my throat nervously. "So... why the effort? Are you expecting Vaughn to be there?"

Chelsea wrinkled her nose. "No, I just felt like making myself look pretty." Bending down, she dragged a pair of high heels out from some hidden corner and unsteadily stepped into them. "I look okay, right?"

"'Okay' is the understatement of the century," I replied, fighting back a sleazy grin. "The groom-to-be will regret the choice he made when he sees you."

She giggled. "I doubt that. Lily's an Asian babe and I'm pretty sure he has yellow-fever, if you know what I mean." Her eyes ran up and down my form for a moment before she asked doubtfully, "Is that what you're going to wear?"

"Why? I'm not expected to wear a tux, am I? It's just a small engagement party, right?"

She shook her head. "Small isn't in Will's vocabulary. I guess it'll be fine, but I think some of Will's rich friends from the mainland are probably coming. I just don't want you to feel like you stand out too much. The girls said the dress code was evening smart."

"I can throw on a smart dress shirt?"

There was a knock on the door and she hobbled across the room to answer it. As she did, I headed over to where my duffle bag had been dumped unceremoniously on the floor and rummaged around for the smart black shirt I'd thrown in there. I had just managed to find it and pulled it out when suddenly I heard a squeal from the front doorway. Looking up, I saw Chelsea's friends ogling her in the same awestruck manner I'd done only a few moments earlier. Like Chelsea, they had dressed up as if they were going out clubbing rather than to a simple engagement party, with Natalie wearing a midnight blue number and Julia wearing black miniskirt with a classy chiffon blouse.

"Wow!" Natalie exclaimed, her eyes alight with excitement as she made Chelsea twirl around on the spot. "You look more amazing then you did at the Harvest Goddess Festival. Is this _really_ what you look like when you actually make an effort?!"

Julia smirked. "You look gorgeous Chelsea. That dress looks so much better on you then it does on me."

"It's because your boobs look obscene in it," Natalie said, elbowing her friend in the side with a grin. "Like a glamour model." I quite enjoyed the mental image I got from that comment and was a little sad that I'd never see the reality of it.

"I just felt like trying to make a bit more effort tonight," Chelsea replied bashfully, her hands lowering to the edge of the dress to try pulling it down self-consciously. "It's a beautiful dress Jules. I appreciate you lending it to me."

"Do you like it, Skye?" Julia turned to ask me hopefully. I was puzzled about why she was making such a point to ask me about it.

"Chelsea's always been sex on legs, so it doesn't surprise me that she does that dress justice," I replied diplomatically.

The blonde seemed displeased. "So you're not bothered?"

"I like it, of course, but that get-up isn't for my sake, surely?"

Julia grimaced irritably before turning back to Chelsea and asking, "So, are you guys ready to go?"

"Oh, wait, let me get my things," Chelsea replied, turning around in a hurry and dashing to her room.

As she went, I started tugging my shirt over my head so I could change, but paused when I saw how Julia and Natalie were staring at me. Julia was smiling like a lecherous pervert and Natalie was covering her face with her hands, though her fingers were moved aside slightly so she could still sneak a peek.

"Like what you see?" I asked flirtatiously as I did up the buttons on the dress shirt.

"I don't know what it is about you, but you make everything seem indecent," Natalie mumbled through her hands. "Lanna's going to have a field day with you."

"Lanna?" I asked.

Natalie glanced at Julia with a grin. "Yeah, Lanna. You don't know about her, huh?"

Julia frowned and waved her hand dismissively. "Enough about that. You'll find out who we're talking about later. Chelsea! Hurry up!"

After Chelsea had finished grabbing the rest of her things, we all set off across Verdure towards Sprout Island where a lavish looking yacht was docked on the far harbour. I had known that this Will guy had come from money, but I hadn't realised _how_ much money until I stared at the lean, clean lines of the large yacht which served as the venue for the party that night. Loud music throbbed from the subwoofer inside and I could hear giggles and laughter from the few guests that were out on the deck. An assortment of rich looking young men and women milled around the boat with drinks glasses in hand and smiles fixed on their faces, and I was vaguely reminded of one of the high society parties that Ellie had once brought me along to during our first year of university.

"Oh my, wow, girls..." one of the guys stuttered upon seeing them, though his eyes were fixed mostly on Chelsea. His accent was posh sounding and I guessed that he was one of the toff-crowd that was invited by the host. "You look, um... ravishing!"

The guy addressing them was fair skinned, fair haired and was wearing all white which further emphasised his pallor. I didn't have a clue who he was, but I didn't like the way he was looking at Chelsea and I protectively wrapped my arm around her waist. "And who are you?"

His eyes strayed from Chelsea just long enough for him to look up at me. "Oh, I'm William. I'm the groom-to-be." He genially outstretched a hand towards me and I shook it firmly. "It's nice to meet you... um...?"

"Skye," Chelsea offered with a shy smile. "Will, this is my friend Skye from the mainland. He's also friends with Ellie and Trent."

"Oh, yes," Will said, his eyes fixing on me with interest. "Ellie told me a fair bit about you. You're an aspiring chef, right? And your parents...?"

"No one you would know," I replied tightly. "Congratulations on your engagement. I hope you don't mind me tagging along; I just wanted to make sure the girls got here safely."

"Well of course!" Will exclaimed gallantly. "The more the merrier! Please, do come in and get yourself a drink. I'm sure the ladies would like to get inside in the warm, even if it is unusually mild out tonight."

He ushered us aboard the boat and as soon as I entered the main cabin my ears were assaulted by loud dance music that pulsed through the air and made the 'party' seem more like a rave. As Chelsea had said, 'small' clearly wasn't in Will's vocabulary. With strobe lighting, disco balls and a bar situated at the end of the long room, it really did seem more like a nightclub more than anything. There were almost a hundred people crammed into that boat and I was daunted that such a party was being thrown by a small island community. Most of the guests looked young, around our age, and almost everyone was dressed to the nines.

"This is surreal," I muttered under my breath when Chelsea was squeezed up next to me as someone brushed past us in a hurry, calling out to a friend behind us.

"Welcome to my world," Chelsea replied, trying to step out of the way and ending up brushing up against me even more. Afterwards she grabbed my wrist and pulled me along as she followed her friends towards the bar. While we struggled through the crowds I noticed that a small space on the dance floor had been taken up by a few girls who were dancing together. A light then suddenly hit the blonde in the centre and I realised who Natalie had been referring to earlier.

Lanna: the wet-dream of millions of young men across the country.

Oh boy, I was so shocked to see her there. I think I actually stumbled when I saw her dancing around with the only Asian girl in the room who I guessed was the bride-to-be. Dressed in a short dress made of silvery strands that shook and shimmered every time she moved, I actually thought I was dreaming. As 'Gangnam Style' suddenly came on and a chorus of amused cheers went up around the room, the girls began to dance along with the song as if they knew all the choreography and I found myself transfixed by the sight of Lanna gyrating along to the Korean lyrics. Her dark eyes finally strayed in my direction and when she caught me staring at her with my mouth wide open, she gave me a wink before jumping into the lasso movement with renewed vigour, her eyes remaining fixed on mine as I blindly stumbled after my friend.

When we finally reached the bar I turned around to see Chelsea giggling at me with amusement. "You've seen her then."

"I had to stop from fan-boy screaming," I replied breathlessly as we reached the bar. "Lanna! Sexpot Lanna! In the flesh! Why didn't you and Ellie tell me sooner?!"

"I guess we kind of forgot," she replied with a shrug. "She's pretty normal if you take away the suicidal tendencies and obsessive behaviour."

"Neurotics are hot," I blurted out, causing her to giggle louder.

"Hey, how much did Will spend on this party?" Julia asked randomly, turning around and looking around her in awe as Chelsea leaned over the bar and ordered our drinks. "I knew he was going all out, but this is ridiculous."

"Can you imagine what the wedding is going to look like?" Natalie remarked with a snort.

Chelsea stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'm planning not to eat for the whole day... that way I can eat as much as possible at the reception. Think of all the fancy food they're gonna put on!"

"Good idea," Natalie said with a nod. What were they? Old men?

I had kind of zoned out of the conversation by that point, having turned to watch Lanna dancing. My mouth fell open again as an electro dance song came on and Lanna broke out into another set of moves that the other girls around her couldn't follow. Flicking her hair like a professional dancer, I noticed that many of the men in the room had stopped to stare at her in much the same way as I was. Tiny in stature but perfectly proportioned, she had a very ingénue face but the way she moved her body was... beyond sexy. She twirled, dipped and swayed like an experienced entertainer, with every sensual move contrasting her otherwise innocent smile.

I started in surprise when I felt someone's pointy elbow jabbing into my ribs. "Like what you see?" Natalie asked teasingly with a wicked grin. "She's single you know."

"Natalie!" Julia snapped.

"What? He's interested and I'm just telling him that she's available – there's no harm in that!"

"Yes there is! You know there is!"

Natalie stuck her tongue out. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"As much as I don't like her exhibitionism, I have to admit the girl can dance," Chelsea chortled mildly as her two friends glared at one another. "She should do the choreography for the Harvest Goddess Festival. Can you imagine that?"

"I think the older men would get heart attacks if she did and I don't think I could keep up with her," Julia said seriously, her eyes bugging out as she turned to watch.

"At least she's happier than she was a couple of weeks ago. I think Denny's disappearance did her good," Natalie replied with a faint smile. "She's probably just showing off now because of all these rich guys that Will invited."

Chelsea fiddled with a stray strand of her hair that had fallen out of her bun and for a moment my attention was drawn from Lanna down to Chelsea's neck. Conflicting feelings tugged at my heart strings as I looked at the smooth, pale skin and I frowned when I realised what I was doing. Hadn't I already promised myself that I wouldn't feel that way about her? Hadn't she made it very clear that she wasn't in the least bit interested in me? Was I not helping her get together with another man? I sighed in frustration and she tilted her head ever so slightly as she turned to look up at me.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

I forced a smile. "Nothing. I was just wondering what to do about you."

"Do about me?"

Not wanting her friends to hear, I leant in towards her ear. "Your situation with your loverboy." I was just about to pull away when suddenly the scent of Chelsea's perfume, faint notes of lemons, peach and jasmine, drifted towards me and momentarily stunned me.

She noticed that I'd lingered too long. "Skye...? What are you...?" She paused and her frown deepened. "Why are you blushing?"

"I am?" I raised a hand to my cheek and felt that they were a lot warmer than usual.

"We should go home if you're not feeling well," she said, misinterpreting my flush cheeks.

She reached up to put her hand against my forehead but I flinched away. I didn't want her to touch me. I don't know whether it was the perfume, the atmosphere or the way she was dressed, but I was finding it very hard to control my feelings towards her when I was the focus of her attention.

Before she could ask me why I'd flinched, Natalie saved me by linking her arm with mine and saying, "Look! Lanna's coming over here! _Smile_!"

My head was in turmoil when I looked over and saw the tiny idol wading through the crowds in our direction. She sexily ran her hand through her long blonde hair as she looked in our direction, and once again my attention was diverted long enough for me not to notice Chelsea's proximity. With a smile playing shyly at the corners of her glossy pink lips, Lanna looked up at me once before turning to Natalie. That single look sent shivers down my spine and I quickly found myself forgetting about Chelsea as Lanna and Natalie greeted one another like old friends.

"I cannot get over how friendly they are with one another," Julia muttered under her breath. "It's like she never hated her at all."

"Well she did say that her main reason for disliking her was because of Denny," Chelsea reasoned. "Now that he's out of the picture, there's no reason for her not to like her. I mean, even _you_ have to admit that Lanna's less pompous now."

I suddenly felt very lightheaded when Lanna slid past me towards the bar, brushing up against me purposefully as she situated herself between Natalie and I. Unable to stop myself, I glanced down towards her backside as she leant over the bar and ordered a drink from the bartender. The shimmering strands of her dress had parted slightly, revealing a pair of silver hot-pants underneath that didn't leave much the imagination. I swallowed hard.

I must have been staring longer than I thought, because I was suddenly brought out of my trance-like perverted daze when she said, "So what's your name?"

My eyes snapped up to her face. She was smiling coyly up at me and it was clear that she'd caught me staring at her ass.

"I'm Skye," I said rather dumbly.

I guess I must have looked rather gormless because Natalie leaned in helpfully and added, "He's one of Chelsea's friends from the mainland. He's here for a short visit."

"Oh," Lanna said, looking clearly deflated. "So are you two..." she made a quick gesture between Chelsea and I.

Chelsea shook her head. "No, we're not. We're just friends. Close friends, but not that close."

Lanna immediately perked up at this. "Well that's great!" She outstretched a hand towards me. "I'm Lanna. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Th-The pleasure is all mine," I replied, shaking her hand. Her handshake was firmer than I'd expected and I quickly adjusted my grip. "I knew who you were before you introduced yourself anyway. It's quite hard to miss you when you dance so wonderfully."

"Oh, I almost forgot about all that," she replied with a girlish giggle. "It's been a while since I was involved in the entertainment biz, so I forgot that a lot of strangers recognise me."

She was blatantly lying and feigning modesty, but I didn't say anything about it and merely forced myself to keep smiling as I asked, "So how long have you lived here for?"

"Almost two years," she replied warmly as the bartender slid her cocktail over towards her. She took it gracefully and sipped on it once before adding, "I needed a break from all the stress involved with my job."

"Well it seems like you still have a gift for entertaining. It's clear to see that you're good at what you," I replied, finding my confidence quickly. "I think many of the men in this room were quite enamoured with you when you were dancing."

Natalie snickered. "You could practically see their eyes popping out of their sockets."

"Eww," Lanna exclaimed, wrinkling her nose cutely at the thought. "They weren't. They were just a bit surprised to see me dancing like that. I guess I was showing off a little."

"A little?"

"Okay, a lot!" she said rolling her eyes and nudging Natalie with her shoulder. Her pearly white teeth nibbled her bottom lip shyly as her dark eyes quickly found mine again. "So how long are you going to be on the islands for?"

"I'm not sure yet. I haven't decided." I didn't particularly want to set a length of time for my stay, considering that Chelsea might ask me to clear off if things with Vaughn went according to plan.

Lanna pouted at this and frowned in a such a way that I found it impossible not to find her cute. She glanced at Natalie, then Chelsea, and then downed the rest of her drink. Once she was finished she wiped the residue from her lips with the back of her hand before placing her other hand on my arm gently.

"Come and dance with me?" she asked so quietly that it was difficult to hear. I had to carefully watch her lips to understand what she'd said and I quickly realised that she'd done it on purpose.

I gulped and put my drink down before giving her a short nod. She smiled up at me gleefully and led me away to the dance floor while Chelsea and Natalie waggled their fingers at me. I trailed after Lanna wordlessly and when we reached a gap in the crowd she turned around to dance with me, pressing herself against me in such a way that I actually blushed. Me? Blush? Preposterous, right? Well, the idea that one of the women of my dreams would actually be there on that dingy little island and would actually want to dance with _me_ seemed preposterous at the time as well. I thought that I _had_ to be dreaming; things like that never happened to me.

Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pulled me down slightly so that she could speak into my ear in spite of the music and chatter around us. "Are you really not dating Chelsea? No interest or anything?"

I could feel her breath on my ear and I'm pretty sure the hairs on the back of my neck were standing on ends. In spite of that, when I glanced over at Chelsea and saw her in heated conversation with Julia I felt a little twinge in my chest.

"I'm not dating her, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested," I replied apologetically.

Lanna pulled away from me a fraction so that she could look up at me. Her expression was blank and unreadable, but she kept her body moving in rhythm to the music. After a long moment, she pulled me down again and asked, "Do you know that she's in love with someone else?"

I nodded. "Vaughn."

"And you still like her?"

"I don't like her, but I care about her. She's a good friend of mine," I told her. "I'm not going to lie and tell you that I have no interest in her; I'm trying my best to not be dishonest nowadays."

I guess she liked what she heard because all of a sudden she turned her head slightly and pecked me on the cheek before saying, "Honest guys are hard to find."

"I know," I replied, grinning like the village idiot.

* * *

><p>I actually felt pleased when I saw Skye disappear into the crowds with Lanna. He looked so dazed and in awe of her that I knew his usual charm would falter and he would actually be himself for once. More than anything, I wanted him to have a good time – especially after making him tell me about his past history with Jill.<p>

I let out a whimsical sigh. "I hope they like each other."

Skye seemed uncharacteristically unsure of himself and Lanna was smiling up at him flirtatiously as if all the drama with Denny had never happened. Usually in his element when a woman, the silver-haired smooth-talker looked awkward and shy; it was kind of surreal to watch. Was he really that intimidated by Lanna? Did her stardom really dazzle him that much?

"And what about you?" Julia asked sullenly.

"I was never interested in Skye in that way. He's a good friend and I want him to be happy with someone, but that someone is not me." I poked Julia's forearm. "Don't worry about me. I'll find someone eventually."

Natalie leaned towards me and said quietly so that Julia couldn't hear. "You know that she was just trying to get you together with Skye, right?"

I scoffed. "Yeah, like that's _really_ going to happen."

"What will?" Julia asked with a frown. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Natalie said sweetly before taking her drink and disappearing across the room just as Elliot approached them and squeezed next to Julia.

Elliot was dressed smartly for once and his red hair was combed back stylishly while his hands were rammed in his pockets. Although he'd managed to make himself look less dorky than usual, it was clear from the way his eyes were darting around him nervously that he wasn't comfortable with these types of parties. He leaned in and gave Julia a small peck on the cheek and she stiffened at the contact, her eyes widening a fraction as if she were bracing herself for something.

"Hey Chels," Elliot greeted me cheerfully, not seeming to notice.

"Sup Elliot," I said with a small wave. "You look great."

"Thanks," he said shyly. His dark eyes swept down my figure quickly as he stammered out, "You do too. I mean... you usually look great, but tonight... yeah... Great."

I was somehow expected some sort of faux-jealous reprieve from Julia, but she made none and kept her eyes fixed on her drink. She had gone completely stiff and her breathing was shallow, as if she were trying to stop herself from hyperventilating. Why was she reacting that way? It was almost as if she were repulsed by Elliot's presence.

"Will and Lily seem happy," Elliot commented as he absent-mindedly stroked Julia's shoulder. "I didn't realise that tying the knot would be so... exciting."

"Well it would be if you had as much money as Will does," I remarked with a short laugh, glancing at Julia as she shot me a pleading look. She wanted my help; she wanted Elliot to leave. That's when it hit me.

"Hey, Ell, can you give Julia and I some time alone? I need to talk about girl stuff with her," I suddenly said. Elliot looked stunned and then worried, but his expression cleared when I lied, "It's about my love life."

"Oh, right," he said with a slight grimace. "I'll leave you to it then." He rubbed Julia's arm and said, "I'll see you later, 'kay?"

Julia nodded weakly and as Elliot headed over towards where Will was sat at the back, she visibly relaxed, hanging her head tiredly before tossing her drink back. I then began to notice that Julia's eyes looked shadowed and her cheeks were sallow as if she'd not been eating properly.

"Does it really frighten you that much?" I asked her.

"What?"

I put my drinks glass down. "Marriage."

Even in the crowded, noisy room the silence between us hung heavy in the air. Her blue eyes were filled with such anxiety, fear and desperation that she didn't have to communicate the truth to me. She was fucking terrified and we both knew it. I let out a long sigh before gesturing to the bartender to refill our drinks glasses. He took our glasses and Julia's face hardened as the refilled glass was slid back over to her. The dark liquid bubbled up to the surface and I could tell that she was struggling to remain composed.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why does it scare you?"

"Let's not talk about it," she replied irritably. "Drink with me." She raised her glass to her lips and took a long sip.

"Tell me," I pushed, not wanting to let the issue slide.

She tapped her glass on the table angrily, causing it to slosh over the edge. "I don't want to tell you alright?" Suddenly regretting how she'd snapped at me, she said, "Sorry... I just... I don't really want to... Look, I'll tell you if you drink with me a bit."

"I don't like drinking," I replied with a frown.

"Well tough, I ain't telling you then."

Annoyed, I raised my drink to my lips and drained the glass before slamming it down on the bar with a loud tick. "Now tell me."

"Hey, can we get another two drinks here?" Julia asked, gesturing to our empty glasses. "In fact, keep it coming. Let's have a little contest, shall we?"

"No, let's not," I replied as the bartender shot me an inquisitive look.

"If you win, I'll tell you everything," she said. "If you lose then... I won't tell you jack."

"If I can even remember to ask when I win," I said with a groan as the bartender served up two more drinks. I raised mine up and she chinked her glass against mine before downing it in one. I watched her hesitantly before realising from the resolute look in her eye that she was completely serious. She had no intention of telling me. I wondered if maybe I should just wait to see if she'd spill the beans after having a bit more to drink, but decided against it when I remembered that she was actually a tight-lipped drunk. The only way I was going to get anything out of her was to win against her fair and square.

"Fine," I said before draining my second glass with a grimace.

I can't even remember how many drinks I poured down my throat that night. Our pace started off relatively slow, but as the passage of time seemed to speed up, so did our drinking. I lost count of how many glasses of rum and coke I'd drunk after the tenth glass, though I can distinctly remember that my throat burned and my limbs began to feel like jelly. My body moved as if I were a puppet on a string and someone else was controlling me. I went drink for drink with Julia for quite a while, eventually drawing quite a crowd as word spread around the room that we were competing to see who would last the longest. The sound of the music was eventually drowned by the cheers from people watching us drink each round and I found my vision beginning to spin as I kept drinking what the bartender kept giving us. I felt stupid and horrible and I thought I could hear my liver crying out in protest, but I was so focused on my goal of beating my friend that I almost forgot the reason for competing with Julia in the first place.

Eventually, Julia's pace began to slow and finally she put her glass down shakily as her body quavered in disgust. I knew I'd won when she threw her hand over her mouth to stop herself from vomiting and she dashed off to the toilets as a roar of laughter and cheers went up. I felt my back patted, rubbed and stroked by several people as I finished my last glass and put it down clumsily. I'd won, but I couldn't remember why I was happy about it. The room span and the faces of the townspeople and Will's friends blurred around as me as I tried to push away from them. Unsteadily, I stumbled away from the bar and landed on someone's hard chest before a pair of arms were wrapped around me.

"What the hell Chelsea," I heard Skye grumble angrily. "I leave you alone for a short while and you turn into a raging alcoholic."

"Shup," I slurred, trying to push him away. I could smell a woman's perfume on him and he felt sweaty from all the dancing he'd done with Lanna. "Where's Juliaaahh?"

He kept a tight hold of me as he leaned into my ear and said, "I need to get you home." I shook my head childishly. He then squeezed me tighter and said menacingly, "If you're not careful I'll take advantage of you right here. You can barely stand upright and I doubt you'd be able to protest."

"You wouldn't dare," I said challengingly, thumping my balled fist against his chest.

I felt him chuckle at this and he kissed the top of my head before pulling my arm over his shoulder so that he could support me as we walked towards the door. As was passed the large clock hung on the wall nearby I was shocked to see that it was already past one o'clock in the morning. Had I really been drinking with Julia for that long? We'd arrived at the party at nine thirty and already almost four hours had gone by without me realising it.

"Lightweight, I am not!" I roared, pumping my fist into the air triumphantly before finally my memory went foggy.

Maybe the alcohol had kicked in late, or maybe exhaustion finally took it's toll on me again, but I can't remember anything that happened after that. I think Skye managed to carry me outside and down the dock to the island, but that's it. It's almost as if my memories were a train that had run out of rail tracks.

I wasn't prepared for what I woke up to the next morning.

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><p>Hi everyone! I hope you had a good new year and you're all ready for 2013! I know I'm not! I actually went up to London to see the fireworks on NYE and holymoly, it was amazing. I've never seen fireworks done like that before. Maybe I just don't get out enough, but they seriously gave me an eyeboner. See the YouTube video of the fireworks to see what I mean.<p>

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter. I had to POV switch to change it up a bit, which is why it's longer than usual. Hopefully it wasn't too hard to understand the change.

_SpringBorn:_ Sorry it was hard to read! I try my best when I do read-throughs before posting, but I can't always do it perfectly. I have to admit though - the last chapter wasn't one of my best. I had to write it for plot purposes, but I didn't feel particularly inspired when I was writing it.

_Pelkasauras -Cherry3456:_ Thanks for saying that. :D I'm not creeped out, though I'm not sure I am worthy of such admiration. V_V" But I really do appreciate the comments you leave, they're great morale boosters! Seriously!

_blacksunset1214:_ Yeah, I didn't really want Jill to pass away, but he wouldn't have turned out the way he has if she hadn't. As you can imagine, having your first love die before you could tell her your feelings is enough to mess anyone up and drastically alter their personality. In my head, Skye wasn't as much of a playboy as he is now.

_ShadowBloodNinja:_ Yeah, that was one part of Harvest Moon DS Cute that really irritated me. Finding all the sprites! And you should go to Japan! I don't think you even need that much knowledge of Japanese if you go to an international boarding school there – they will most likely teach in English. You can learn Japanese when you're out there.

Thanks for all your reviews! Keep them coming, I really appreciate them. I'm sorry if I made this chapter a bit too long, but it was kind of needed to set the scene for the next plot arc I have planned. Especially the next chapter... :D That's going to be soooooooo much fun to write. Teehee!

Till next time!


	44. Us

_Please be advised that this chapter is a bit suggestive – it's not quite M, but it's pushing the boundary of T a bit. I will change the rating of the story if I'm requested to._

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><p><strong>Forty Four<strong>

_Us_

I woke slowly that morning. I half opened one eye and saw that the morning sunlight was flooding through the red curtains that hung over the windows, casting a reddish glow over everything in the room. Not wanting to wake yet, I closed my eye and buried my face into the pillow; I felt exhausted, dehydrated and far too comfortable to move.

As I lay there, willing my brain to shut down so that I could sleep some more, it instead began to process what I'd seen when I'd opened my eye. Red curtains. Silk sheets. Hotel room? Suddenly the fug in my mind cleared and I realised with a painful throb that I hadn't been sleeping in my own bed. The sheets smelled differently. They smelled of a man.

My eyes flew open and I stared up at the ceiling. It wasn't the white painted ceiling I was used to seeing at home. I was in a completely different room. Fear snaked through me as I tried to remember what had happened the night before. How did I get there? Was I alone? How much did I drink? As questions raced through my mind, I slowly turned my head to the right and my mouth fell open when I saw that I wasn't alone.

Lying next to me was a lump. A large, warm lump. I could tell from the sheer size and length that it was a guy. Wrapped up completely in blankets, his head was covered by the large silk pillow that was draped over it and I couldn't make out anything distinguishable about him. Desperate not to disturb him as I tried to gather my thoughts, I went very still and slowly replayed what I could remember of the night before. Fragments of my memory appeared in brief bursts; talking to Julia about her fear of marriage, the competition, Skye dancing with Lanna, Julia rushing to the toilets. Then, I remembered that Skye had tried to take me home. We had hobbled off the boat and as soon as my foot landed on the sand dusted path that lead into town, my memory had gone blank. With painful slowness, I turned to look at the lump again and I felt my heart thud violently in my chest when I saw a lock of silver hair poking out from the gap between the top of the bed covers and the pillow over his head.

Oh my god... I'd slept with Skye.

Far too disturbed to stay lying down, I sat up quicker than I ought to have and was rewarded by a shard of pain ripping through my brain. With both hands, I clutched at the sides of my head as I cringed against the agony, promising myself that I would never ever, ever, ever drink that much alcohol again. As the pain receded and my brain shrank back down to its original size, I noticed that I was wearing a black dress shirt that was far too large for me and I was even more puzzled when I realised that my underwear was still on.

Unsure of what to do, my first instinct was to reach over and wake Skye up. Extending my hand hesitantly, I was about to jab him on what I assumed was his shoulder but then he suddenly began to move, taking a deep breath as he rolled over onto his back. As he did, the pillow was moved aside and I was able to see his face clearly for the first time. My heart leapt and did a few somersaults in my chest before stilling as I felt the blood drain from my face in pure shock.

It wasn't Skye. It was Vaughn.

My brain was completely frazzled by what I saw. All my motor functions shut down and I gawked down at the beautiful man lying next to me asleep. His long eyelashes fluttered against his cheek with each deep breath he took and his lips were slightly parted as he exhaled again in an almost hypnotic rhythm. For once, all the muscles in his face were completely relaxed and I found my heart doing another somersault as I saw once again how beautiful he was when he wasn't frowning. Even the dark stubble on his chin was sexy and I unconsciously reached out to touch it admiringly; I couldn't believe how perfect he was.

I'd realised my mistake as soon as my fingers touched his skin. Although I pulled my hand away quickly, it wasn't quick enough for him not to notice. He frowned and reached up to rub his chin, grumbling something incoherent before he cracked one eye open to look at me. His one eye stared at me briefly before closing again as he suddenly reached out and pulled me back down.

"Vaughn! What are you-" I began to protest, trying to wriggle away from him, but his arm was too strong and I was too hung over to put up much of a fight.

He spooned me from behind and I felt jolts of anticipation and horror run through me when I felt a certain woody friend poking into the back of my thigh. He seemed unaware of this and simply mumbled into my hair, "Just sleep a bit more."

Sleep? How was I meant to sleep?! I had his erection poking into my leg! "Vaughn, let me go," I said shakily, trying to turn and look at him but finding that he wasn't releasing his grip from around my waist.

"Shh," he shushed, snuggling me even tighter as I felt all my blood rushing to my face. I couldn't understand what was happening. How did I even get in his hotel room? And why was I half naked in bed with him? And WHY was he spooning me?!

"Vaughn, your erection is uncomfortable," I finally said after a long silence which I assumed was him falling back to sleep.

"I can make it more comfortable for you if you like," he replied with a sexy growl that sent shivers through me.

My lust and curiosity fought with one another for a moment, but unfortunately my curiosity won. "How did I get here?"

I felt Vaughn's whole body jerk with surprise and I knew that he'd finally woken up. His grip around my waist loosened immediately and I used that opportunity to squirm away from him and turn around so that we were facing each other. When I saw his face I could read the clear disappointment in his expression; something had happened last night and he had expected me to remember it.

"You don't remember?" he asked dumbly.

I shook my head briefly. "I'm sorry."

"_You're_ sorry? Heck, I'm the one that should be sorry! I should have known this was going to happen. Goddamnit Chelsea, why did you have to drink so much last night?" He sat up abruptly and hunched over his knees. "You're so stupid to have drunk so much that you can't even remember what happened the night before. Do you know how reckless that was? Especially with that guy you've got staying with you? What would have happened if I hadn't found you? That guy..." He paused and suddenly his scowl darkened menacingly, though I knew it wasn't directed at me. "Did he spike your drink?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, shaking my head in confusion. "Who spiked my drink?"

"Skye!" he roared, sending another jab of pain through my already throbbing head. "Who else?!"

"I think I just lost a few brain cells," I winced.

"What few brain cells you _have_!" Vaughn snapped angrily. "Again you put yourself in a vulnerable position and you trust guys without really knowing them. What's going to happen when I go back to the mainland again? Huh? I can't be around to protect you all the time Chelsea!"

"You call this protecting me?" I asked as sat up and tugged at the black shirt I was wearing for emphasis. "Aren't you being a bit of a hypocrite?"

"Nothing happened," he replied sullenly.

I started. "Really?

"Unlike the other male company you keep, I don't like taking advantage of drunk girls. I brought you back here last night because I knew that Skye would be sleeping round at your house and I didn't trust him with you. Not in the state you were in anyway. You could barely walk."

"Skye wouldn't do anything to me," I began to reason, but he cut me off.

"Are you really that naive?!" he snarled. "That guy wanted to sleep with you! It was clear from the way he was leering at you! You were so drunk and you were dressed so..." He trailed off and looked down at his hands tiredly. "I hit him."

Although I couldn't remember for myself what had happened, the story was beginning to become clear to me. "You hit Skye? You hit _my friend_?!"

Vaughn looked back at me guiltily. "I didn't want you to get hurt again."

I was torn between the urge to punch him or throw myself at him. While I hate to admit it, Skye's plan to make Vaughn jealous had work and I was now in a position which I could have very easily exploited. However, I could see from the way Vaughn's right hand looked that he'd given Skye one heck of a wallop and I wasn't sure about how to feel.

"Then what happened?" I asked quietly, bringing my knees to my chest and resting my chin on them as Vaughn's violet gaze strayed to my bare legs. His eyes lingered there for far longer than necessary before finally rising to mine.

"I brought you back here," he said solemnly. He was about to say something else but stopped himself and looked away with a frown.

"Then what?" I urged him, reaching out and touching his shoulder blade.

He reacted on reflex, reaching up and grabbing my wrist firmly to stop me. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't ask," he said warningly. "It's good that you can't remember what happened. That means we can just rewind and reset to how it was before."

"But I don't want it to be the way it was before!" I snapped, snatching my hand away angrily. "I don't want this! I don't want you to avoid me! I don't want you to look uncomfortable every time we're the same room together! I don't want to just pretend that this _thing_ between us doesn't exist! Because it does, Vaughn! It exists whether you want it to or not!"

Vaughn looked visibly shaken by what I said, but I didn't care. I was just so angry with him. He'd been snuggling with me only moments before and now he was talking about resetting everything... I mean, I had a _right_ to be mad, right?

"I already told you why we can't," he replied weakly.

I let out a scoff of disgust and scrambled out of bed, picking up my dress as I headed towards the door to the bathroom. I heard him call my name, but I slammed the door shut behind me and locked it. I felt sorrow sweep through me like a tidal wave as I collapsed. My bare knees hit the tiled floor painfully, but I didn't care and I let out an anguished sob as I covered my face with my hands.

"Chelsea, open the door," Vaughn said from the other side.

"Fuck you!" I sobbed. "Fuck you and your fucking self-righteous, self-sacrificing idiocy! You call me stupid all the time, but really you're the idiot. You're a fucking asshole! I wish I'd never met you!"

There was a loud thud on the door, like a fist slamming into the wood, and I thought for a moment that he was trying to break the door down, but then everything went quiet. I sat there in silence, listening for signs of life on the other side and I was hit by a fresh wave of tears as I realised that he'd probably just gone back to bed. I cried for what felt like ages, feeling the agony of my situation and all the bad luck I'd encountered over the past year weighing over me with each tear. How come nothing went right for me? It was always one step forward, two steps back.

Eventually I ran out of tears and I picked myself up off the floor. Rubbing my eyes and wiping my nose with the back of my hand, I turned to look at the mirror hung over the sink and grimaced at my reflection. My eyeliner had smudged, causing me to resemble a panda, while my hair looked vaguely like a bird's nest. I blinked at myself a couple of times before turning the tap on and hurriedly washing my face with plain water. As I let the cold water refresh me, I tried to get my head together. I couldn't keep crying; I had to get out.

After washing my face and haphazardly trying to brush my teeth with my index finger and some toothpaste, I started to feel a bit more human again. Now I had to decide what to go home in: Julia's dress or Vaughn's shirt. As beautiful as Julia's dress was, I could only imagine what the neighbours would think if they saw me going home in it, though the second option wasn't much better. Realising that I didn't have much choice, I unbuttoned Vaughn's shirt before struggling to get back into Julia's dress. I couldn't do the zipper at the back by myself, but by that point I didn't care anymore. I just wanted to get the ruddy thing on and go home.

Once I'd let my hair down completely and neatly folded Vaughn's shirt up, I unlocked the bathroom door. The door was forced open as soon as I turned the lock and I stumbled back in surprise as Vaughn filled the doorway. He was mostly naked except for the boxer-briefs he was wearing and I struggled not to stare at him in awe. Good goddess he was like an Adonis.

He brushed past me and headed for the sink, pulling his toothbrush out of the medicine cabinet behind the mirror on the wall. It was a tight squeeze, since the bathroom was so small and I inched towards the door as he ran the toothbrush under the tap. "You can't wear that."

"Why not?" I asked defensively, trying to skirt around him so that I could leave, but he wouldn't let me.

He put his hand on the door frame just before I could pass. "Take a seat." He turned around to the toilet and closed the lid before pointing at it. "I'm not done with you yet."

"I want to go home," I snapped. "I don't have time for this anymore. I have a farm to run."

"Not today you don't," Vaughn said before beginning to brush his teeth quickly.

I rolled my eyes and turned to leave again, but he grabbed me with both hands, clenching his toothbrush in his teeth as he dragged me over to the toilet seat to force me to sit down. I tried to slap his hands away, but he simply grabbed my wrists and gave me the evil eye until I stopped struggling.

Sitting down on the closed toilet seat, I watched him finish brushing his teeth before finally spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing quickly. When he was done, he turned around to face me with a stern expression.

"Can I go now?" I asked.

"No," he replied. "We need to have a long chat about us."

"'Us'? What 'us'? You clearly don't want there to be an 'us'," I spat venomously.

"Pull your dress up," Vaughn said uncomfortably before turning and leaving the bathroom. I quickly pulled it up again before following him out and watching him sit down on the edge of the bed.

I folded my arms. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Last night," he began as he looked up at me. "You made it very clear to me just how much I mean to you. You weren't exactly eloquent in your delivery of that confession, but you got your point across loud and clear."

I could feel my cheeks heating up again when I heard the word 'confession'. So I'd drunkenly confessed my love to him... well that's just great.

"Then when you woke up, you said you couldn't remember anything. You were confused about why we were in bed together and how you ended up here, so that's why I said we should just reset. I thought that last night had just been the booze talking. It wasn't until just now that I realised that you were actually being genuine," he continued. "I'm not very good with words and I'm not very good at dealing with emotions, especially not other people's. I'm sorry."

"Is that it?" I asked. "Is that all you have to say in response to my feelings? 'I'm sorry'? Well you know what, Vaughn? Apology not accepted."

"Hey, wait a second," Vaughn began, rising to his feet as I started towards the door. "I'm not done yet!"

"I don't give a shit!" I yelled as I reached it. I turned the door knob and managed to pull it back a couple of inches before it was slammed shut again by Vaughn's big hand shooting past the side of the my head. I got the eerie sensation of déjà vu as I became aware of how close behind me he was. This had happened somewhere before – but this time there was a lot more sexual energy between the both of us.

"Do I have to tie you up to stop you from running away?" His hand remained firmly against the door to stop me from opening it again. "You're like a skittish filly that refuses to be tamed; always runs away when she's too startled or upset."

"You're comparing me to an animal now?" I asked.

"I can't relate to other people very well. I've never been good at it. That's why I prefer working with animals; I seem to understand them better." He rested his head against my shoulder. "I really need you to just listen to me and not freak out at what I have to say. So would you please just stay a while?"

I couldn't move. My hand stayed firmly wrapped around the door handle and the skin on my shoulder where Vaughn was resting his forehead tingled. I wasn't sure what else he could say to me that would warrant the need for me to stay and I didn't want to listen to some long speech about why the two of us couldn't be together, but there was a stricken pleading in his voice that made me feel guilty somehow.

When I didn't speak for a long time, he placed his other hand on the door as well, further mirroring the events several months before. He then lifted his forehead off my shoulder. "Chelsea?"

Releasing the door handle, I half turned to him as I had done all those months ago and our faces were once again inches from each other. I held my breath and stared at him for a moment as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. From that distance I could see the different hues of blue and violet that made up his unusual eye colour and I could see that his pupils were dilated from my proximity.

"Vaughn," I began to say, but he suddenly cut me off by closing the gap between us. As if a switch had been flipped, all his inhibitions disappeared and he pulled me to him as he pressed his lips against mine insistently. Without hesitation I melted into him, revelling in the feel of being wrapped up in his arms again as I forgot all my anger. I wound my arms around his neck and pulled him down to deepen the kiss, letting my lips part as his tongue slipped in to find mine. I moaned pleasurably as he gently pushed me back against the door, taking my wrists in one hand and pinning them above me as his other hand explored my curves. When I arched my back against him, he pulled away to look at me.

"What am I doing?" he murmured. "This is a bad idea."

I felt my blood run cold as I saw the uncertainty in his eyes. "Please stop now if you're just going to regret this later. I don't think I can take you rejecting me again."

His hand, which had been running down my side, stilled on my hip. "I just wanted to protect you."

"I don't want protection," I replied. "I want _you_. You and only you."

"It's not that simple."

"Yes, it really is!" I exclaimed, bucking away from the door in a useless attempt to close the gap between us again. With my hands still pinned, I couldn't do much more than stare at him.

"Chelsea, there are things about me, about my past and the people in my life that you don't know about yet. That you probably don't _want_ to know about," he told me darkly, his brow furrowing as if remembering something unpleasant.

"I don't care," I said simply, staring up at him with determination. "It's all part of what makes you 'you', and since I love you I'll just have to learn to love those parts of you too."

Vaughn was so shocked by my words that he let go of my wrists and used that hand to steady himself against the door. "You love me," he repeated. It wasn't a question or a statement. He was thinking out loud and he was clearly confused. "You. Love. _Me_."

"Is it really that difficult to believe?" I asked, reaching up to stroke the side of his face. He tilted his head into my touch, much like a cat would, and I couldn't fight back a smile as I said, "Yes Vaughn, I love you. I'm in love with you. I probably have been since I first met you."

Over the initial shock of it all, Vaughn's other hand which had remained on my hip, slid round to the small of my back and pushed me towards him as he pulled me in for another kiss which I returned fervently. All those months of building sexual tension and self-sacrificing restraint melted away as he picked me up and took me over to the bed. Although some small part of me nagged that Vaughn hadn't verbalised his feelings in return, I somehow knew that words weren't necessary. Even afterwards, as we lay spent and exhausted in each others arms, we remained completely silent - every kiss and every caress conveyed all we needed to say.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Hey everyone! I'm sorry I made you wait so long for this chapter. I just kept going back and editing it, thinking that it was done, but then I would rejig it around and… yeah.

I was a bit anguished about writing this, because I had this chapter planned out months ago but plot twists kept pushing it further and further back because I didn't feel that it was right for the two of them to finally act on their feelings for each other. Now that the time is finally right, I find myself wondering if maybe I'm rushing it… but then I look at the number of chapters I've written.

As to the setting and act itself – I was actually wondering if I needed to bump this up to M, but I am not entirely sure about this, so please let me know if you think the rating should be changed. When I was plotting this scene out I had planned for Chelsea to escape from the room, but after all that's happened between the two of them, I just couldn't see it playing out any other way. They're both consenting adults and while Vaughn had the decency not to do anything with her while she was drunk, there was no way he was going to restrain himself once she was sober and had already reiterated that she was in fact in love with him.

Now the pair of them have to deal with what happens when Sabrina and Denny come back, as well as other drama that's set to happen around them (and between them). Anyway, yeah, that's my justification for this chapter. Sorry if you guys hate it! X_x

**SunnyElla16**, **Pelkasauras –Cherry3456**, **blacksunset1214** and **SpringBorn** – Thank you for the reviews! I'm sorry I made you wait too long! I'm still not sure if this chapter was even worth posting – I was getting pretty down about it because I didn't want to disappoint you guys. I write for my own pleasure, but I also bear in mind your enjoyment too, which is why I was angsting about it a bit.

**ScarfAdd** – Thank you for the long review. It really put a smile on my face and I'm glad you enjoyed it so far. I really do try to give the characters in the story individual personalities, though it's hard since this story is written from the first person perspective. It's difficult to get the personality across properly while keeping the narrative voice in character too, which is why I rely so heavily on dialogue a lot of the time. But yes, I one day hope to write a book – though I have no idea when that will be. XD

**Guest** – Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed reading it in what little time you had left of your winter break. I'm glad you like Skye – he's one of my favourites at the moment and I have some other stuff mischief for him to get into quite soon.


	45. Love Yes, that word

**Chapter Forty Five**

_Love. Yes, that word._

When I woke up a few hours later I was surprised to see that I was alone in the room. My hand stretched out to where Chelsea had been lying next to me only hours before and I felt a sad sense of loss when I recognised that the sheets weren't warm anymore. For a minute I wondered if maybe it had all been a dream. What if everything that had happened was simply a figment of my imagination? Her touch, her taste, her smell; what if it was all just the wishful thinking of my sub-conscious? It wasn't until I glanced down at my fist and saw the swelling from punching Skye that I realised that it hadn't been a dream. It had been real.

Rolling over, I buried my face into her pillow and inhaled the lingering smell of her hair. As I basked in the joy that it had all been real, the paranoid part of me wondered where she'd gone. My paranoia snowballed as I was tossed from exaltation to misery. Where _was_ she? Why did she leave without saying anything? Had I done something wrong? What if she regretted what happened? Gut wrenching anxiety ripped through me and I sat up so that I could look around for signs of her.

There was the unmistakeable mark of a woman in how tidy the room was. My clothes, which had been previously strewn across the room from the night before, were neatly folded and placed on the desk chair while my boots were put together by the door. The bits of paper and rubbish that had been lying on the bedside table on the other side of the bed had been thrown away into a nearby trashcan and the mess we'd made of the complimentary drinks tray had been cleared away. In a moment of madness I thought that maybe Carol had cleaned the room for me whilst I was asleep; but as I looked around to the other side of the bed I noticed a hand written note lying on my bedside table.

Slowly, I picked up the note and read the loopy handwriting:

_Hey,_

_I didn't want to wake you so I left you to sleep a bit longer and tidied the room up a bit. I'm heading home to get my chores done. I'll come back as soon as I'm done – unless you want to come round? Give me a ring when you wake._

_Love (yes, __**that**__ word) _

_Chelsea xxx_

I read the note over about five times before sighing and resting my head back on the headboard. Love. Yes, _that_ word. When she'd first said it aloud, I'd been elated but also cautious about letting myself believe her; in the end I decided to dismiss it as the drunken ramblings of a young woman with a crush. I'd always known that Chelsea was infatuated with me, but love? I couldn't believe it. Especially not after the way I'd treated her before. Then that morning, when she reiterated that she _did_ love me, I was overwhelmed by the enormity of it. Still unable to truly believe it, I thought that maybe she was still drunk, but my doubt was silenced when I recognised the way she was staring at me. She was wearing that determined frown of concentration; the same one that had caught my attention almost a year ago.

With some trepidation, I reached for my phone and found Chelsea's name in my phonebook. I hit the call button and brought it to my ear. It rang only once before she picked up.

"Good afternoon," she chirped down the phone. "Did you sleep well?"

I hesitated before answering, "Yeah." An awkward pause followed and I cleared my throat before saying, "You left me a note telling me to call you."

"Oh, yeah, I wanted to check if you want me to come back over once I'm done here," she replied. "I've just got to brush the cows down and put some feed out for the poultry and then I'll take a quick shower before heading back over to you. I mean, I don't have to if you don't want me to. You could come here if you want. Or you don't have to come here. It's just… I mean… I want to… Nevermind, ignore me, I'm babbling."

"Don't be silly," I replied. "I'll come over to you. Just give me twenty minutes."

I heard her let out a sigh of relief. "Okay," she replied, sounding noticeably more relaxed. "I thought that maybe you wouldn't want to come over and I started to panic that I was making assumptions or whatever and I tried to double back on myself but then it made me look really stupid. Oh god, I'm rambling again. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry," I replied. "I had a bit of a panic earlier too."

"Oh?"

I grimaced. "When I woke and saw you'd gone."

"Missing me already?" she asked teasingly.

"Maybe. Would you think less of me if I did?"

"No."

"Anyway, I'll be round shortly to help you out with everything."

"Oh you don't need to! I'm mostly done anyway. I mean, I've been trying not to rush getting everything done whilst still, you know, hurrying up."

"You're surprisingly cute when you're nervous," I commented with a smile. Chelsea giggled shyly at this and I felt a strange warmth spread through my loins at the sound. "Your giggle does things to me."

She stopped giggling. "What kind of things?"

My smile widened. "I'll have to give you a demonstration later."

"I can't wait," she replied slyly. "But do you want me to go round to the hotel?"

"We'll figure it out when I get round to yours," I told her. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay," she said. She paused and I heard her take a deep breath before adding, "I love you."

My mouth fell open a fraction and I gaped down that phone at her. I could tell that she was waiting for me to say it back to her, but the words caught in my throat. She must have mistaken my silence for apprehension because she suddenly said, "Look, don't worry about saying it back to me. I just want you to know that I really _do_ love you. I meant every word of what I said earlier."

"Chelsea, I know that-"

"And please don't think that I'm pressuring you to say it too. I am quite willing to wait till… I mean, I'm not presumptuous enough to think that you'll love me too. It's just that-"

"Chelsea, shut up for a second," I said, cutting in impatiently. She went silent and I suddenly felt guilty for being so brusque with her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude it's just that you were rambling again."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologise." I scratched the side of my face thoughtfully, wondering how to carefully phrase what I wanted to say. "I know it sounds like I'm making a big deal out of it, it's just that I'd rather not say something like this over the phone."

I waited for her to respond and when I heard her sigh I knew that she wasn't pleased. "Look, just forget about my rambling. I'll see you later."

"Chelsea, wait a sec," I tried to say, but she hung up on me.

Suddenly frantic with the need to correct the misunderstanding, I leapt out of bed and got ready in the hurry. I showered, dressed and left the hotel as quickly as I could, barely looking at Carol as she watched me leave. I stalked through the town with my eyes fixed straight ahead and as I went I felt something cold hit my cheek. Looking up in surprise, I saw that it had started to snow. It was slow and weak at first, but it started coming down thicker as I crossed the bridge to Verdure. Regretting that I hadn't worn warmer clothing, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my coat and picked up the pace, hoping to get to the farm before I got completely covered in the stuff.

When I reached her farm, I immediately made a beeline for the barn first, remembering what she'd said about needing to brush the animals down and put some feed out for them. As I reached the barn door, I paused when I heard her talking to someone in hushed tones. At first I thought it was Skye, but when I strained my ears to hear I realised that she was talking to her cows.

"He probably doesn't feel the same way," she murmured. "Well, actually, I'm pretty sure he doesn't. He probably still has some hang ups from when he was with Sabrina, so I really shouldn't expect him to return my feelings." I heard a cow moo loudly in response and heard her chuckle. "You're a great listener. At least with you I don't make me feel like I'm being bullied into feeling way or another. Pretty sure Julia's going to give me a bollocking when she finds out. Thing is… I don't care anymore. I'm fed up of caring what other people think of me. I love him. For some mad reason, I love him, and nothing's going to change that."

Leaning against the barn door, I didn't make a move to enter as I heard her change the topic and start talking about her family. I felt strangely guilty for listening in, but I also felt jubilantly happy. Her carefree confession brought back memories of the night before where she'd randomly blurted out how she felt about me as she started undressing for bed; it was almost as if she hadn't been conscious that I was in the room and it sounded almost as if she were confiding in a friend. It's part of the reason why I decided not to take her seriously until the next morning.

I listened to her talk for another couple of minutes before finally pushing the door open. She jumped out of her skin when she saw me, accidently startling her cow and sending it trotting across to the other side of the barn. In spite of the fact that she was wrapped up in a thick red winter jacket, a blue scarf and matching hat, her nose was bright pink from the cold and a rosy glow was spread over her cheeks.

"Hey," I finally said, causing her to blink as if she'd been brought out of a daze.

"Hello," she said. "I didn't expect you to come over so soon."

"Well, you hung up on me," I replied. "You didn't listen to what I have to say."

"Sorry."

"Stop apologising and just listen." I started towards her and she put her weight on her back foot in surprise, almost as if she wanted to run away. "Look, you're doing it again. You're just proving what I said earlier this morning."

"What, about being like a filly?"

The corner of my mouth twitched. "Exactly."

When I reached her, I took hold of her chin and tilted it up so that she was forced to look straight at me. I didn't want her turning away from me or trying to hide how she felt. Chelsea's emotions are very easy to read, providing that you're able to look her right in the eye. Those big blue orbs stared back at me with a combination of fear and anticipation, her brows furrowing into a concerned frown. What was she expecting me to say?

"The reason I said that it wasn't something that I wanted to say over the phone is because I don't like to sling that word around a lot," I began. Her eyes widened a fraction, but she remained silent and I continued. "When I say it, I want it to mean something and not just be a throw away remark."

"So you think that I've been making throw away remarks?" she asked, sounding clearly offended.

"No, not at all," I replied. "I know that you mean it and I really do appreciate that. It's just that I can't be as open as you are with your feelings. You know what I'm like."

"A surly bastard?" she asked, clearly growing annoyed with me.

"Yes, I'm a surly bastard," I said impatiently. "I'm a surly bastard and you're a guttersnipe that likes to overreact." She flinched at my words and I sighed. "I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings Chelsea and I won't lie and say that we'll never fight, because we will. We'll fight and argue just like we used to because that's the way we are and we're both too stubborn to change. But I wouldn't want it any other way because I want you. You and only you." She took a shaky breath when she heard me repeat her line from earlier and as I saw her lips part I felt desire cut through me, muting me from saying anything further.

"You love me, don't you?" she asked, reaching up to touch my face. Her fingers were cold, but I didn't shy away from them and her eyes half closed as she stroked them across my cheekbone. "You don't have to say it. As long as I know how you feel, you don't have to say it. I'm sorry if you felt like I was trying to pressure you."

Before I could say anything more, her hand snaked round the back of my neck and she pulled me towards her. Her lips pressed against mine almost painfully but I kissed her back, matching her desperation to close the gap between us. With a moan of satisfaction, she arched her body against me and we began moving backwards until finally my back was against the wall. I was vaguely aware of the fact that her hands had travelled down towards my belt, but I didn't become fully conscious of it until she broke our kiss.

"Chelsea, what are you doing?" I asked her as she struggled to figure out how my belt worked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she quipped back as she finally figured out how the clasp worked.

"We're in a barn."

She paused and looked up at me. "So?"

"So… it's not exactly the most appropriate place to be doing this."

She frowned thoughtfully before asking, "Would you rather we did this with Skye in earshot then? Because he's watching television in the living room at the moment and I don't see any other alternative that won't take a ten minute walk."

I pondered this for a moment, but she must have taken my silence as approval because she hurriedly undid my buckle and unzipped my pants. I was just about to tell her to stop when suddenly the barn door creaked open again and we both froze like children that had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar – except it was Chelsea's hand in my pants.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Hey guys! I'm so sorry it took so long for me to write this chapter. I was having problems finding the inspiration to write and all the pre-Japan prep has been really distracting. This chapter isn't one of my best and it's not even that necessary for the next story arcs that I have lined up for this story, but I feel that Vaughn's reaction to the whole getting-together thing needed to be addressed before I could go forwards.

As always, thanks for the reviews and I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter, because I had fun trying to write it. The main reason I was worried about the rating was because I noticed that the wording in the Ratings Guide seems to have been changed? Or maybe it's just because I've never read it properly before. I guess they probably did that in response to the surge of smut they probably got on the website after Fifty Shades was published.

Anyway, thanks for waiting and I'll try and have the next chapter up within the next couple of days. I've got more free time now that I'm finished with work, so I'll try and get one of the last three story arcs done before I go to Japan.

PS. If anyone is interested in being my beta reader for this story, please let me know. I think it's time I bit the bullet and found one...


	46. In Sickness and in Health

**Chapter Forty Six**

_In Sickness and in Health_

I sat across the table from Chelsea with a sour expression as she stared down at her hands which were folded in front of her. She looked like a naughty school child that had been hauled into principal's office and was about to be reprimanded, which made me feel even more annoyed at her. She was making me out to be the bad guy in the situation.

"Look, Julia, I'm sorry you had to see that," she began, not looking at me and pointedly keeping her gaze fixed on her hands. "I wasn't expecting anyone to come visit me."

"I should hope not. I never took you for an exhibitionist, but clearly I was wrong," I replied.

She nibbled her lip and glanced up at me once. Her cheeks coloured and she looked away again, grimacing in embarrassment as we both remembered what I'd walked in on. The memory of it made me shudder and I was finally able to understand Natalie's disgust whenever she walked in on me and Elliot. Of course, most of the time I was in Elliot's room – not a barn.

"I feel bad for Vaughn. I think he was more horrified by the whole thing than either of us were," she added quietly. "I've never seen him look so… animated."

"To be honest, neither have I," I admitted. "I don't think I can look him in the eye anymore."

I frowned and rubbed my forehead as I considered my friend carefully. There was an odd sort of glow about her that I hadn't seen before; while her eyes seemed brighter and more expressive, her skin had a strange vibrancy to it. Whatever happened between her and Vaughn had left her looking happier than I'd ever seen her before.

"So, you two are together now huh?" I asked her as I leant my head in my hand.

Chelsea nodded silently, again glancing up at me before looking away bashfully.

"Well, I hope you're ready for it," I told her. "If Vaughn's going to ignore my advice and go against his better judgement then I hope the two of you are ready for the shit when it hits the fan."

"I'm not scared of Sabrina," she replied, looking up at me properly. Her chin was tilted upwards in proud defiance and I could see the fire of animosity in her eyes.

"I know you're not, but you should be," I said. "Setting fire to your farm isn't the worse she could do you know. The fire is merely a minor setback in comparison to what she could really do."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "What could she possibly do that's worse than nearly killing me?"

"Regis DeLauer has a net worth of 20 million dollars and his only daughter and heir has unrestricted control of that money," I explained. "While she of course can't use that money without having to answer to her father, she can make things difficult for you if she wants to. She probably set the fire on impulse rather than thinking it through, so just imagine what she can do if she actually sits down and plans it."

Chelsea's expression shifted from one of anger to one of alarm; it was as if she was only just realising how precarious her position was. She swallowed hard and ran a hand through her hair as she looked out the window towards her farm. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, but eventually her expression hardened and she turned back to me with steely determination evident in her eyes.

"I'll bear with whatever Sabrina throws at me," she replied. "Sorry Julia, I know you don't like the idea of me being with Vaughn, but I'm going to be stubborn about this."

"Is he really worth it?" I asked her.

"It's not a matter of whether he's worth it Julia. I'm in love with him."

I blinked. "What?"

"I'm in love with Vaughn," she repeated firmly. "It took a cow mowing me down to realise that."

"Are you sure it's actually… love?"

"Yes. I'm sure about it," she said with a short nod. "I've thought about what you said about true love and it's been playing on my mind ever since Natalie and Elliot's party. Ellie said something similar too. She said that I never truly loved Mark and it made me wonder if maybe she was right. When he told me that he was going off to start his farm, I wasn't thinking about him at all. I was thinking about me - how it would affect me, what it would mean for my future plans. I never once stopped to consider how he felt. With Vaughn it's completely different. I want to make _him_ happy, not myself."

"Yeah, I'd rather you not go into the details of _how_ you could make him happy," I cut in quickly.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. "I wasn't even talking about that. In fact, when it comes to that he's actually more accommodating than I am."

"Too much information!" I exclaimed, covering my ears childishly.

She giggled. "Now you know what Natalie feels every time we talk about you and Elliot."

"I know. I actually feel guilty now. I never realised it felt so… icky," I said, bristling. "I'll have to apologise to her when I see her later. But still, are you sure you love him? Isn't it too soon after Mark for you to tell? It might just be lust."

She shook her head vehemently. "No, it's not just lust. Yes, lust did help things along when I first met him, but I love him for more than just his looks. In the beginning I thought he was just a jerk with a gimmick, but he grew on me. The more I found out about him, the more I wanted to know him. Over time I realised he's actually a good person; he's protective of his family and friends and he's honourable in a way that guys in this day and age aren't. I mean, after the incident at the Cow Festival he could have just left me to struggle on my own, but he didn't. He offered to help me and showed me compassion when I needed it the most. He was there for me."

I tapped the side of my face with my fingers as I considered what she'd just said. I hadn't expected her to defend her feelings for him so passionately. Her reasons were well thought out and made sense, and I couldn't refute them. Although my cousin was quite gruff with strangers, he really was just as Chelsea had described him. It seems that she really did understand him better than I thought and it took me by surprise. When I thought about it, I began to see that in spite of all the combined baggage they had, Chelsea and Vaughn were well-matched; they had similar attitudes, were both as stubborn as each other and were both fiercely loyal to the important people in their lives. While Chelsea was obviously more outgoing, and often quite silly, her sunny personality perfectly contrasted Vaughn's taciturn cautiousness.

"Jules, say something," Chelsea said when she grew tired of my silent scrutiny.

"Has Vaughn said he loves you back?" I asked.

She wrinkled her nose. "He doesn't have to."

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't have to say it out loud. I just know he does," she replied.

"Hmm… Well, I'll find out about that when I get home," I said with a frown. "I know Vaughn's not that big on verbalising his feelings, but he should still answer your feelings properly. Has he at least said that he likes you?"

"Julia, we spent a good three hours in bed together this morning; I'm pretty sure he at likes me," she replied. "You should have seen his face when I told him that I loved him. He looked genuinely shocked by it."

"Yeah, well I don't blame him. I wasn't expecting you to fall in love again so soon either," I said. "I just hope you won't regret this later."

"Vaughn said the same thing to me earlier," she replied. "He says that there are some things in his past that I don't know about yet. He was being very cryptic."

"He's probably referring to our family."

"What? You and Mirabelle?"

"No, the rest of the Mercers. My Ma and Uncle Eric are the black sheep of the family, so to speak. We're pretty much the outcast branch of our extended family."

"Why are you the black sheep?"

I grimaced at this question. I didn't really feel comfortable revealing the sordid nature of my Ma's family to her. I'd never actually met them since they'd refused to speak to my Ma after she cut ties, but I'd heard fragments of conversations between my uncle and my Ma about things that had happened within the family.

"Let's just say they don't approve of us," I said carefully. "It's not really my place to go into the details; I'll leave that to Vaughn. He's had to deal with them directly and has more history with them than I do."

"But what's so bad about them?"

"They're…" I paused as I considered what the best word to describe them. "Traditionalists. They're very rigid, conservative. They're all about family values and going to church on Sunday and being the 'proper' sort of people. Clearly my Ma and Uncle Eric aren't the proper sort of people."

"'Proper' sort? What are they, bigots?"

I smiled at her bluntness. "Something like that, yeah."

Chelsea nodded slowly, digesting this information, and as she did I pulled out a bottle of aspirin from the plastic bag I'd brought with me. I'd been suffering from a hangover for most of the morning and brought round my favourite hangover cures to Chelsea's house since I figured she would probably have a hangover too.

It was as I was unscrewing the top of the aspirin off that she suddenly asked, "So are you going to tell me what you wouldn't tell me last night?"

I knew she was going to ask that. I had been hoping that she might have forgotten about the reason behind the drinking competition, but unfortunately luck wasn't on my side. I popped one of the aspirin into my mouth and took a gulp from the glass of water that she'd given me earlier. The lumpy pill slid down my throat uncomfortably as she watched me.

"What were we talking about?" I asked, feigning innocence.

"I wanted to know why you're scared of marriage," she replied, frowning at my attempt to pretend I didn't know what was going on. "You wouldn't tell me and said you would only tell if I won a drinking competition against you."

"Oh, yes," I said blandly. I put the glass of water down. "It's silly really. I'm not sure it's even worth telling you to be honest."

"Well you made me guzzle gallons of booze last night, so I expect you to tell me – silly or not."

I rubbed the space between my eyebrows and let out a long sigh before looking up and meeting her gaze. "How do you define marriage?"

"Well, I guess it's the union between a man and a woman. It signals exclusivity and it's a way to legally bind yourself to another person."

I chuckled. "Judging from your definition, you don't really believe in the emotional implications of marriage."

"Don't get me wrong. I understand why people do it. It's just that I don't see why people need to prove to the world that they love each other by signing a piece of paper and having a big ceremony in a church," she said with a shrug. "I mean, that doesn't mean I want to get married at some point, of course I do - I just prefer to keep a realistic perspective on it. I don't want to delude myself into thinking that marriage will be all roses and romance, because it's not. My parents fought a lot when I was growing up and the romance in their marriage pretty much disappeared after my sister Molly was born; they're more friends than lovers now."

"So you don't see it as being anything to do with romance?"

"No, I see it as a promise to commit," she replied.

I downed the rest of the water and put the glass back on the table gently. "You see, I agree with you one hundred per cent. I think that marriage isn't necessary to prove that you love someone, which is why I don't understand why everyone makes a big deal out of it. It's not that I'm afraid to commit or anything – I just don't…"

I hesitated and she quickly picked up on it. "You just don't what?"

"I've never seen a marriage actually work out like it's supposed to," I said slowly. I felt lightheaded and slightly nauseated as I spoke, but I urged myself to get it out. "My Ma… she married a guy who ran out on her when I was still a baby. She was cast out by our family because she wanted to be with him, but he just left her as if she was nothing. Her sacrifice was in vain. She struggled for years as she tried to raise me by herself and I'm so lucky that she was strong enough to cope." I paused to swallow before continuing. "And then there's Felicia. She got married without her father's consent and had two wonderful kids, but her husband died a couple of years later and, like my Ma, she was left to raise them all by herself. If it weren't for Taro, Felicia would have struggled just like Ma did."

"Yeah, but Julia, just because that happened to them it doesn't mean it'll happen to you," Chelsea protested.

She reached across the table and gave my hand a comforting squeeze, but I shrugged it off uncomfortably. "It's not just them. It's everyone on this damn island. Look at Chen. And Gannon. And even Regis for goddess sakes! I've never seen a marriage actually work. In the end, they all ended up alone with their hearts broken and I'm terrified that if I marry Elliot then we'll end up like that too."

"But you love each other, don't you? Do you honestly think that he'll walk out on you?"

"I don't think he'd leave me, but what if something happens to him? Like what happened with his dad. I just… I think that marriage jinxes things," I replied as I covered my eyes with my hands. I could feel my tears welling up and prayed that Chelsea wouldn't realise that I was starting to cry. "And now all these weddings that are happening are starting to give him ideas. Elliot's always been a hopeless romantic and he has this rosy view of what married life is meant to be like. He desperately wants to marry me; he almost proposed the other day, but I distracted him before he could."

"Distracted him?"

"Yeah… I sat on his face."

There was an awkward silence as Chelsea grimaced in disgust and I was torn between laughing and crying. "I can't keep distracting him forever though, can I? So what am I meant to do?"

Chelsea reached out and pulled my hands away from my face so that she could look at me. Our blue eyes locked and she held my gaze as she said, "You need to tell him how you feel."

"But he wouldn't understand. He'll think it's because I think he's not good enough. He has a ridiculous inferiority complex because of Natalie's bullying, so he's always felt very undeserving of me. If I were to tell him that I don't want to get married to him, he'll think it's because I don't really love him and it'll crush him," I replied. "I don't want to hurt him."

"I don't think you're giving him enough credit," she said. "Elliot might be a bit clumsy and slightly gormless, but he loves you. If you tell him your fears and explain them, he'll understand. Of course he'll be disappointed, but he's not going to force you if you don't want to. He cherishes you too much to do that and you know it."

I knew she was right. I knew that Elliot was more understanding than I gave him credit for. My wonderful boyfriend would have accepted my fear and dropped the subject if I'd been brave enough to explain it to him, but I wasn't. I was too scared of upsetting him and losing him and I wasn't willing to take that risk.

"I can't."

"You'll regret it if you don't tell him sooner rather than later," she pointed out. "Don't leave it till it's too late."

Later that afternoon, when I headed back home, I began trying to rationalise my fear to myself. I usually don't like to introspect, but I found myself trying to understand why I took all those examples of failed marriages to heart. Although I knew that Elliot loved me and would never leave me, whenever I thought of what it would be like to get married to him a tiny voice in the back of my mind would say, '_But what if?_'. **What if** he left me? **What if** he died? **What if** we both change after we get married? What if, what if, what if!? That two word question tormented me and instilled an inexplicable amount of fear in me.

Pushing open the door of the shop, I was hit by the pleasant warmth of the room and was momentarily distracted from my inner anguish by the sight of my cousin sitting at the back of the shop waiting for me. For once, he had his hat off and he sat with his elbows rested on his knees and his head hung limply as he stared down at the floor. Hearing me come in, he looked up.

"So you're done talking," he said as he sat back in his seat and watched me dust the snow off my coat.

"Yeah," I replied. "It wasn't all about you, don't worry."

He grumbled something under his breath, but I didn't hear it and wasn't interested enough to ask. I was more interested in something else.

"Do you love her?" I asked him as I took my coat off and hung it up by the door.

Vaughn's whole body went rigid and he blinked at me. He was like a deer in the headlights; a sight which I wasn't accustomed to seeing.

"You know, I'm surprised," I went on to say as I sat next to him on the bench. "She seems to have sussed you out pretty quickly – I have to hand it to her, she's a good judge of character."

"Huh?"

"She's probably the first woman to have fallen in love with you for your personality rather than your face," I explained, poking the side of his face.

"I know. I don't deserve her," he said, waving my hand away.

I let out a snort of disbelief. "Finally, we're in agreement. What I want to know is how it happened? I mean… she left with Skye last night, so how did she end up with you?"

"I was just leaving the hotel to go to the dock and catch the late ferry home when I saw Skye stumbling along with her. I asked him what was wrong and he was… rude. He made lewd comments about her and insinuated that he would do things with her once they got home. I could see she was barely conscious and so I… took her from him."

"You took her from him? How?"

"I punched him," he said, holding up his hand and showing me.

"Goddess…" I muttered, staring at the angry welts across his knuckles.

"Since I couldn't take her home and I knew you and Natalie were still at the party, I ended up taking her to my room. I wasn't intending to do anything with her, but she started rambling as we were getting ready for bed. Then she blurted out that she loved me and started crying for some reason," he said, scratching his head as if he couldn't quite figure out why. "I ended up cuddling her till she fell asleep and then in the morning… well, that's when things happened."

"And you didn't touch her whilst she was still drunk?"

He shook his head. "No, of course not."

"I'm almost proud of you," I said with a smile, reaching up and patting his shoulder. "A man that can keep his dick in his pants - most of the time."

"So you're not mad anymore?" he asked.

I let go of his shoulder and took a deep breath. "No, I'm not mad anymore. I just hope you'll look after her. Of course, you know that Taro will probably want to have a chat with you now that you're seeing her."

"Yeah, I know," he said, looking down at the floor with a solemn frown.

Rising from my seat, I gave his shoulder a quick squeeze before heading for the stairs. He followed suit and got up to leave, but before I could start climbing up he suddenly said, "By the way, I do love her. How could I not?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Yay, next chapter. It's not particularly polished, but I wanted to get it posted while my creative juices are flowing again. I'll try and get the next chapter up tomorrow. And thanks SpringBorn - sorry the last chapter was short!


	47. Fishing

**Chapter Forty Seven**

_Fishing_

Life on the Sunshine Islands settled into a quiet monotony after the engagement party. Chelsea went about her daily chores, did her deliveries and came home in time to make me lunch and dinner, and she seemed perfectly content living her life like that. In fact, it was almost as if she was made for that simplistic way of life – especially now that she was 'dating' Vaughn. I can't really call what they were doing 'dating' though, because they weren't really going out anywhere; she just went round to his hotel every night and came home the next morning. It's kind of seedy when you think about it.

"I'm in the way, aren't I?" I asked her as she came home early one morning.

She dropped her keys in the key-pot by the door. "Not particularly."

"But it'd be more convenient if you could bring him round here, wouldn't it?" I asked, turning over to face her. I was still lying on the sofa bed, watching the television as I waited for her to get home.

"It's not that inconvenient really. The hotel is only fifteen minutes down the road," she said with a shrug. "But he's coming over for dinner tonight, so I want you on your best behaviour and I don't want the two of you to start brawling in my kitchen."

"You can't even call what we did brawling, he one-hit me."

"Well, just don't say anything that'll set him off then," she said irritably.

"Okay okay, I'll be on my best behaviour, I promise," I said, rolling over again so I could watch the T.V.

"By the way, apparently Lanna was asking after you," she added as she started preparing breakfast. "Natalie told me the other day that she was wondering if you're still around. You should go visit her. You like her, don't you?"

I grimaced. "I don't think it's wise. I'd much rather admire her from afar."

She scoffed and I heard a loud metal thunk of metal on metal. "You're just scared."

"Maybe I am. I just don't want to get to know her and be disappointed to find that her personality isn't as angelic as her looks," I said as I flicked through the television channels.

"Well, I can tell you for a fact that she's no angel, but she's interesting once you get to know her. When I first met her she was a bit of a diva, but she's calmed down since Denny disappeared."

I glanced over the back of the sofa. "Who is this Denny bloke anyway? I heard his name a couple of times back at when we were at E and T's place with Sabrina. He's the one that tried to force himself on you, right?"

"Yeah." Her tone of voice took a dip and I saw her expression darkening as if she was remembering something unpleasant.

Not wanting to press the issue and bring back more bad memories, I changed the subject. "What does Lanna do for a hobby?"

"Sing? I guess? I knew she used to fish a lot when she was with Denny, but I'm not sure if she still does that anymore." She cracked three eggs into the pan in quick succession, barely looking at me as she added, "I'm serious Skye; you should go and talk to her. She's a nice girl underneath it all."

"I'm not ready to date," I said defensively, folding my arms across my chest.

"You've never been ready to date," she replied tartly. "In these past couple of years that I've known you you've never actually dated a girl. A couple of one-night-stands, yes, but date? No. You should try it."

"Well, what you're doing with Vaughn can't really be called 'dating' either," I quipped back. "I'm surprised by how carnal your relationship is."

"He's not exactly a romance and flowers kind of guy," she replied with a smirk. "But we do talk a lot when I'm over there."

"Bullshit. You two are probably at it like rabbits ninety per cent of the time," I said, glancing back over at her as she put two slices of bread into the toaster. "The other ten per cent is probably spent sleeping."

The fried eggs started to crackle and pop as she said, "Why do you think I invited him round to dinner tonight?"

"Oh, so you're using me to keep him at bay? Good grief Chelsea, haven't I done enough for your relationship woes?"

"Nope, not yet," she said with a wide grin. "Anyway, these eggs are nearly done. You want one on toast right?"

I nodded and quickly hopped off of the sofa bed. As we sat down to breakfast and she gave me a rundown of her plans for the day, I began to feel that strange urge to escape that I always felt when I lingered in a place too long. Ever since leaving university I'd found myself with a bad case of wanderlust; I never wanted to stay put in one place for long and it was a feeling that had nothing to do with the fact that I was on the run from the police. Listening to Chelsea chatter about her day, I decided that it was about time I left and moved on somewhere new. I still didn't have a clue where I would go, but I knew that now was the best time; I had done what I'd set out to do and I was further inconveniencing my friend with my presence.

Once Chelsea had finished eating and had cleared away our plates, she headed outside to start her farm chores. As she weeded and watered her fields, I took a hurried shower before packing my things ready for my departure and kept an eye on her progress through the window. I guess I should have told her that I was planning to leave, but I knew that she would have made a big deal about it and I didn't want her to feel like I'd left because I thought she wanted me gone. After she'd finished her weeding and had gone to the barn, I saw my opportunity. Picking up my bag and dropping the spare set of keys she'd left me into the key-pot, I headed out the door and left her farm as quickly as I could.

The cold morning air was refreshing to my lungs as I strode away and I felt the exhilarating buzz I always got whenever I set off to go somewhere new. I took long, sweeping glances around Verdure as I headed down the street towards the dock. Snow had coated the town like icing on the cake and further amplified its rustic quaintness. Since it was so early, there was barely anyone around and there was a hushed calm that made me understand why Chelsea liked living there so much. It was a complete contrast to the exciting bustle of the city. Personally, living in a place like that would have driven me mad, but I understood why it suited her temperament well.

When I got to the dock I saw that there was someone sitting on the far edge, with a cooler box to their left and various loose tackle on their right. It took me a moment to recognise who it was and the first thing that came to my mind was, 'Why's she wearing that ugly dress?'

Clad in a long, ugly looking sea-green dress, Lanna sat at the edge of the dock with a fishing rod in hand. From what I could see of her face, she wore no make-up and looked quite ordinary in the early morning light. At first I felt disappointed by how normal she looked; but as I stared at her I found myself curious about how she managed to reinvent herself so drastically. Before I was aware of what I was doing, I continued down the dock towards her and she practically jumped when she looked up and saw me.

"S-Skye!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with horror.

"Good morning," I greeted her as I moved her cooler box out of the way and took a seat next to her. She practically bristled at this and I noticed that she ran a hand through her hair self-consciously, causing me to smile at her embarrassment.

"Morning," she mumbled back.

"So how have you been since I last saw you?" I asked her.

She shot me a sideward glance. "I've been okay. And you?"

"Okay too, though I think I've decided it's time for me to move on from here. My purpose has been served."

I saw her eyebrows twitch, as if she wanted to frown but stopped herself. "You're leaving already?"

"Yeah, well, it's getting awkward staying in that house when Chelsea wants to invite Vaughn over," I said with a wry smile. "I feel bad that Chelsea has to keep walking to the hotel every night."

There was a moment of silence as Lanna digested this, but then she suddenly turned to me fully and said in a rush, "You can stay with me if you want."

With her face fully turned towards me, I could see that in spite of her lack of make-up she was actually quite pretty close up. She had clear skin, long eyelashes and a naturally pouty mouth that was set into a straight line of concentration as she waited for my response. She was by no means a natural beauty, but she wasn't as plain as she looked from afar and I found myself feeling quite conflicted by her offer. While the rational half of me told me to ignore her and just leave, another unexpected side of me wanted to stay – if only to get to know this peculiar woman better.

"Sorry. You don't know me that well and here I am asking you to stay," she added nervously when I didn't say anything in response.

I tilted my head to the side. "You're asking me to stay?"

Her pale cheeks suddenly turned pink and she looked away shyly. "Well, I'm offering you another alternative to leaving."

"It's not really a matter of whether I know you enough. It's that you don't know _me_ well enough," I told her as I ran a hand through my hair.

Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as I brushed my hair back and she looked away sharply as she replied, "How am I meant to get to know you if you leave?"

"Fair point." I put my back down behind me and she fidgeted when I accidently leant in too close to her. "I guess I should get to know you a bit better too. You know, I'm surprised that a pretty thing like yourself is interested in something as... well… manly as fishing."

She looked displeased with what I said and wrinkled her nose. "Fishing is not manly. It's relaxing."

And boring, I thought to myself. "Oh, I understand that, it's just that I've always been under the impression that more men than women get involved with fishing. I meant no offense by what I said."

"It's true that there aren't as many women getting involved with it, but it doesn't mean it's a man-only hobby. It just means that women don't find it particularly interesting," she said, shrugging slightly. "I guess I'm one of the odd ones out."

"Odd is the wrong word," I replied. "I think 'special' is the best adjective to use."

"You're a bit of a smooth talker, aren't you?" she asked, the hint of a smile playing at one corner of her mouth.

"Would it be a bad thing if I was?"

"No, so long as you don't lie," she replied. "So what do you do for a living Skye? You left university around the same time as Chelsea did, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I went into antiquities procurement," I replied.

Okay, so maybe I fudged the truth a little. I didn't really want to lie to her, but I couldn't very well tell her that I was a thief, could I? Regardless of my reasons, it seemed like she didn't believe me anyway. Her eyes narrowed and she seemed almost displeased with my 'occupation'.

"So you're saying you're like Indiana Jones?" she asked dubiously.

Flashing her an enigmatic smile, I said nothing further on the matter. I turned to look out at the flat sea horizon in front of us and I heard her sigh tiredly.

"I don't understand myself sometimes," she muttered. "I am the worse judge of character."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't tell if you're a good person or not." I chuckled at this and she looked offended. "Did I say something funny?"

"If you want to know if I'm a good person, you should ask Chelsea," I told her.

"Well the fact that you're friends with someone like Chelsea should be a good sign that you're not a bad person, but I get the feeling that you're hiding something and it makes me uneasy," she said. "I suppose you know about all the stuff that happened before you got here."

"Well, I know bits of gossip, but not really enough to get an accurate picture. All I know is that it upset Chelsea a great deal and she needed a pick-me-up," I replied. "So I'm glad that her blossoming relationship with Vaughn is making her happy – hence my reason for leaving. I don't want to be in the way."

"Are you sure it's got nothing to do with your own jealousy?" she asked.

I hesitated before answering; of course, my main reason for leaving really was so that I would be out of the way, but I had to admit that Lanna's suspicion was semi-true. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I'd grown far too fond of Chelsea and seeing her come home with a lovestruck expression every morning was becoming a bit nauseating for me to bear. I don't think it was love that I felt for her; I think I was just feeling a bit bitter that she never thought to consider me in that way. Only two women, Chelsea and Ellie, had treated me with such disregard before and it wounded my pride somewhat.

"Maybe I am a little jealous, but I knew she was never interested in me in the first place. Besides, I'd rather leave now so I don't have to deal with Vaughn's growing mistrust of me; I don't want to be on the receiving end of another one of his punches," I said with a wince.

Quite unexpectedly, she raised a hand to my face and gently stroked her fingers over the bruise that had formed just under my eye. I instinctively flinched away from her and we both froze as our eyes locked. Something passed between us that sent shivers down my spine. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was unnerving and unfamiliar. It wasn't carnal attraction like I usually felt with women I wanted to bed, nor the emotional attachment that I felt with Chelsea; it was something completely different and nearly impossible to describe. It was as if someone had pulled at a thread inside me and was tugging it so that I would come closer to Lanna. I'm sure that it wasn't just me who felt it, because Lanna looked similarly disturbed. When the moment passed, she turned away from me and blushed as her grip on her fishing rod tightened.

"Do you like it here?" she asked me quietly, keeping her eyes fixed on her hands.

"I guess. It's a beautiful place to live, if not a little dull."

"Would you stay if you could?"

"Possibly. It depends really," I said.

"On?"

"If you're willing to have a stranger living in your house," I replied with a mischievous grin. "You'd have to learn to trust me."

"No, I trust Chelsea," she said calmly. "I think she's probably a good judge of character; better than me, that's for sure."

"Are you sure about that? She doesn't exactly have a good track record at the moment," I pointed out, referring to the situation with Sabrina and Denny.

She began to giggle at this, but her laughter was cut short when there was a sharp tug on her fishing rod. Frowning with concentration, she began to reel it in with experienced swiftness and with one sharp tug the fish was pulled from the water. Water was sprayed everywhere as it flew over our heads and landed on the dock just behind us, flapping and struggling desperately to return back to the water.

"That usually doesn't happen," Lanna commented as we turned around to stare at it. "I don't usually have to tug that hard."

We both watched with morbid fascination as the fish quickly died, it's wriggling slowly losing energy and eventually ceasing all together. Once she was sure it was dead, Lanna pulled at the line and dragged it towards us with a satisfied smile. She quickly deposited the fish into her cooler box before putting more tackle on the line and casting it out into the sea again.

"So will you stay?" she asked, half turning to me. "With me?"

I was about to reply with the affirmative when suddenly our attention was diverted again by the loud horn that resounded somewhere in the distance. On the horizon was the ferry boat that I was meant to be getting on and I smiled sardonically at the irony of it.

"You know, I think I will accept your offer," I said slowly as we both watched the boat approaching. "But I can't guarantee how long I'll stay; I'm not good at staying in one place too long. Our little farmer friend will testify to that."

"I'll just have to give you an incentive to stay then," Lanna replied slyly, nudging me with her shoulder.

"And what incentive would that be?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," she said. She licked her bottom lip, knowing full well that I was watching her, and I felt a tightening in my groan as scenarios began to play through my mind.

We both continued to watch the boat draw closer and closer until finally we were able to see the occupants on board. There was one lone figure stood on the front of the deck, a suitcase in hand and long hair billowing in the wind. I heard Lanna gasp as she recognised who it was and she immediately brought her line back in and started to pack her things up in a hurry.

"What is it?" I asked with concern. My vision wasn't that great and I hadn't recognised who it was.

"We have to tell Chelsea," Lanna said, reaching down and grabbing my arm to hurry me up. "We have to tell them that she's back."

"Who?" I asked, still bemused.

Lanna's eyes widened. "Sabrina! Sabrina's back!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Okay, so this was another chapter that I rewrote like… five times before I was happy with it. I originally wanted to write a Taro centric chapter, but decided against it when I remembered that I'd sort of ignored Skye over the past couple of chapters. So yeah… I'm shamelessly pairing Lanna and Skye up. Hope you don't hate me for it. Again, thanks to those of you that reviewed/favourited/followed etc. I appreciate it!

**Guest:** I think so far I have another… 20 odd chapters left? Maybe less? The end is finally in sight and I'm actually a little sad about it, but also very excited because it means that I can start on another story without feeling guilty.

**Nberes:** Thanks for following my story for so long! I'm sorry that my progress has been very choppy, but I'm glad you're enjoying reading it. I've actually got a mini-story arc set up for Vaughn's extended family, because they are actually a big part of the reason why he is the way he is.

I'm so happy that finally I can tie up all the loose ends that I created for myself over all these chapters. It's finally coming together and I can't wait till I can start on the new story I have in mind. As always, thank you all for your support! I'll try and have the next chapter up soon.


	48. The Quid Pro Quo

**Chapter Forty Eight**

_The Quid Pro Quo_

In spite of what Denny thinks, I think I really am broken. My psychiatrists say that I am without a doubt a full blown sociopath. The most recent one that my dad sent me to see, Dr. Schulmann, hooked me up to a machine that monitored my brain waves so that he could see my reaction to various different pictures and stimuli. He showed me very ordinary things at first, just random household objects and pictures of families or pets, but then he showed me pictures about wars, articles about murder, and pictures of abandoned children. He did it to see if I had any particular reaction to them. He said that most people have fluctuations in the brain that showed that they understood the negative connotations with those images and words, but I don't. Apparently my brain processes them no differently than neutral things such as tables or trees; I simply just don't care.

That's why when I came home to the islands that day I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel disappointment or excitement to be home; I just did as I was told to by Denny. I noticed Lanna and Chelsea's friend, Skye, hurrying off in the direction of the farm, no doubt to inform her of my re-emergence and I didn't feel particularly bothered by it. So what if Chelsea knew that I was back? It's not like she'd be able to do anything to me. Granted, I regretted telling her that I was the one that set the fire, but it's not because I felt guilty about it; it's because I relinquished the emotional control over her that I once had.

You see, I knew from the very beginning that Chelsea's sense of moral righteousness would stop her from approaching Vaughn. I knew that by strengthening my friendship with her that she would feel guilty about having feelings for him. I knew this and I abused it. I didn't want her to have him. While it's true that I wanted to have Chelsea as a friend, I couldn't stand the idea of her taking him from me. He belonged to **me**. They both did. But if the two of them got together then I would lose them both. So how could I keep them apart? Well, I knew that Vaughn was no longer swayed by my words and so I went for the easier target. Chelsea. Kind-hearted and sensitive to the point where she empathically identified with even the slightest hint of another person's emotions, she eagerly ate up my story about my relationship with Vaughn. The rest was easy.

The only reason I gave up control over her was because she was starting to see through me. Like Denny and Julia, she was beginning to suspect that the majority of the time I was acting. I knew it wouldn't be long before she finally realised my true nature and so I decided to turn on her while my words could still wound her. So I told her. I hurt her and I enjoyed it. Her face when I told her that I'd set the fire was a picture that I have immortalised in my memory; it's almost as satisfying as the face Vaughn made when I told him that I wanted to call the wedding off.

What's the fascination with Vaughn, you ask? Well, I'm not particularly sure of it myself. I guess, in the beginning, I thought he was like me. Even though at first I thought he was just like every other idiot on the island, after a while I began to notice that his behaviour was similar to mine. He was quiet and reserved, speaking only when absolutely necessary, and there was something about him that made people sit up and take notice. However, what caught my attention the most were his eyes. Those stunning eyes watched people from afar, silently judging them in a way that I thought was similar to my own. I thought him predatory, like me. But, he's not like me. Not in the slightest.

I was just passing Carol's hotel on the way back home when the front door swung open. I instinctively knew that it was Vaughn before I even saw him and we both froze when we saw each other. I half expected him to say something to me and I waited with baited breath to see how he would react to my reappearance, but he didn't say anything. His jaw clenched and he readjusted his hat before stalking past me, leaving me reeling from his lack of reaction. It wasn't until that moment that I realised that I no longer had control over him. He didn't belong to me anymore.

As he passed by me I was hit by the waft of a scent that I knew didn't belong to him. He usually smelled of that delicious musky aftershave he always wore, but this time was different; he had the smell of a woman on him. Lemons and peaches, with undertones of jasmine. Chelsea's perfume. When I realised what this meant I heard a roaring in my ears and my vision blurred. Unacceptable. This was simply unacceptable. They were already seeing each other. They'd barely even waited. I just couldn't stand it. I felt my bitterness eating away at me, consuming me and filling me with an ugly, pitiless emotion that gnawed in my chest. It was a sensation that I hated feeling, but at the same time I relished the destructive energy it gave me. The need to direct my rage somewhere was overwhelming and I felt my hand curl into a fist as I felt the urge to punch something, someone. As I felt the pressure building in my chest, I dropped my suitcase in front of me and brought my hands to my face as my sanity fought with my fury. I had to calm down. I had to take a breath and control my impulses, otherwise my father would send me back to Dr. Schulmann so that he could prescribe me more sedatives. Those sedatives clouded my mind and made me feel slow, unable to react quick enough. I didn't want to take them.

After a moment, I managed to regain my composure and I buried my rage. I stored my anger away in some compartment inside my mind for later when I could act on it. I would deal with Chelsea and Vaughn later; but first I had to face my father. As I buzzed in at the front gates of our home, I mentally psyched myself up for the interrogation that I knew was coming and tried to calm myself down. I knew it would be foolish to face him when I was so wound up. Once the gates had open, I quickly walked up the path towards the mansion and was greeted by our butler who took my suitcase from me while I headed up the stairs towards where my father's study was.

I entered the room without knocking. I had clearly taken him by surprise because he dropped the papers that he'd been holding and rose to his feet quickly, his eyes widening as he appraised me in disbelief. He looked haggard and lines of worry had etched their way into the crevices of his face, further emphasising the ravages of time that were clearly taking its toll on him. He didn't say anything at first and simply gaped at me, relief and confusion evident in his eyes as they searched mine. He didn't come to hug me or show me any affection like a normal parent would; but then again, I didn't expect him to.

"So you came back," he finally said as he took his seat again.

"Yeah," I replied dully, glancing around the room. It was a mess as usual, with work documents strewn across every surface.

"Should I even bother asking you where you went?" he asked with a tired sigh.

I was a little surprised by his timidity. "Don't you want to know?"

"I don't know anymore," he replied. "I really don't know what I'm going to do with you Sabrina. It's getting to the point where I'm beginning to lose the hope that I'll ever understand you."

"What is there to understand?"

"Well, you just disappeared. For no reason at all, you left home and went to the city to see your mother." He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Are you unhappy here? Have you ever wanted for anything? Is there something I should be doing that will make you want to stay with me rather than her?"

"No," I replied.

He looked back up at me searchingly, his beady dark eyes desperately trying to see some sign of emotion in my blank expression. "But you must be unhappy with me if you felt the need to sneak off and see her."

"I came back home, didn't I?" I said with a shrug. I slowly took a seat in one of the arm chairs on the opposite side of his desk. "There's nothing that woman can offer me that I can't get here. You were right; she's utterly selfish. I realised it almost as soon as I saw her."

Something in his expression shifted and the concern in his eyes faded. "Then why were you gone for almost two weeks?"

I went very still as I weighed up my options. As I saw it, I had three choices: tell him the truth about where I was, potentially jeopardising Denny's carefully constructed plans; lie to him about my whereabouts in the hopes that he won't see through the lie; or, I could just remain silent and not answer him at all. I didn't want to risk choosing the first two options and so I decided to stay quiet. I simply stared back at him in silence, my eyes steadily holding his gaze as he waited expectantly for my answer.

"You won't tell me?" he eventually asked when he realised I wasn't going to answer his question.

I frowned and looked away from him, feigning petulance. "It's none of your business where I was or who I was with. I'm a grown woman now; I can make choices for myself!"

"A grown woman?" he asked incredulously, his pitch rising as his anger grew. "A grown woman?! Grown women don't run out on their families without explaining themselves! They don't act petulantly without thinking about the consequences of their actions! And they certainly don't run off with boys that are clearly wrong for them!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You were with that fisherman, weren't you?!" he accused, his face growing red as he glowered across the table.

I was caught off guard by this. How did he find out? Had Vaughn told him? As my mind raced to figure out where the information had come from, I calmly tried to think of a way to lie my way out of my father's suspicions.

"Don't be ridiculous!" I sneered. "Why would I be with a fisherman?! I'm not dumb enough to collude with someone so far below my station."

"Well clearly you are, since your track record indicates that you seem to like slumming it like your mother," my father bit back scathingly. "Vaughn Mercer is as common as muck and yet you were obsessed with him for the better part of three years."

"Vaughn was a mistake," I said firmly. "A moment of madness. Much like how my mother was _your_ moment of madness."

"My marriage to your mother was a carefully calculated financial transaction, not the romantic whims of an emotionally unstable girl!" he roared back.

I wasn't perturbed by his display of aggression and remained calm as I said, "I assure you, father, I was not with a fisherman. I can't tell you yet where I've been, but I was taken care of and now I'm back from my little adventure. I won't be going anywhere any time soon."

Displeased with my response, he thudded his fist hard against on the table and turned away from me. "Get out. Your impertinence irritates me. You're a selfish bitch, just like your mother."

I rose from my seat abruptly. "I'd probably be happier if I was like her, because then I'd actually be able to feel something."

He froze when he heard this and slowly turned back to me with a stricken expression. "So you _do_ blame me for your condition?"

"Aren't you the one who caged me?" I retorted.

He flinched at my words and I quickly left the room before he could form a reply. I stalked the carpeted hallways of the mansion and headed towards my room at the back of the building, ignoring the bowing servants and maids that stopped to greet me as I passed them. They weren't worth paying attention to anyway.

Arriving in my room, I quickly slammed the door shut behind me and locked it before stalking over to my suitcase and opening the front pocket. I rummaged around in it until my fingers closed around my phone and I pulled it out quickly, smiling briefly when I saw the light flashing that signalled a new message. I quickly unlocked it and brought up my messages screen, collapsing onto my bed as I read the message I'd received from Denny:

My father has agreed to meet with me and I'm staying at their place now. I don't know how long it will take for things to be resolved, but I know you'll wait for me. You belong to me now, so you've got no choice. I'll come for you when I can. x

I blankly stared at the 'x' after his message and ran a finger across my lips as I was reminded our first kiss. Hit with a surge of lust, I closed my eyes and remembered all that we'd done in those two weeks where we'd literally disappeared from our respective worlds. I had finally relented to him. When he'd told me that he wanted to fix me, I already knew that he wouldn't be able to, but his passion and desire for me was what made me give in to him in the end.

My attachment to Denny starkly contrasts what I felt for Vaughn; while I was interested in Vaughn because I thought he was broken like me, my interest in Denny stems from the fact that he's so completely different from me. So different that I can't predict what he's going to do next. His reactions, his words and his overall personality keep me on edge. In spite of all the shit I give him for obeying me so easily, I can't truly manipulate him, not really. It's this impulsivity and recklessness that excited me when I first met him and made me want to keep him close to me. When he first kissed me on the boat, I hadn't expected it and I gave in to him so willingly – it was almost as if I'd been waiting for it.

Wanting to speak to him, I pressed the call button and brought the phone to my ear. It rang three times before going to voicemail. Irritated but determined, I called him again and was directed to voicemail after only one ring. I glared at my phone. Why wasn't he picking up?

As if to answer my silent question, he texted me back:

In meeting. Ttyl. x

I huffed and tossed my phone aside before getting up from my bed and wandering over to my computer to turn it on. It came to life with a dull whirr and I watched the load up screen blankly as I replayed my confrontation with my father over in my head. It had been briefer than I'd been expecting and I was pleased that the whole encounter hadn't been drawn out longer than necessary, but I was left feeling mildly irritated that Vaughn had seen fit to tell my father about Denny. I hadn't wanted him to know anything about Denny until the time was right. Knowing my father, he'd no doubt start doing some digging to find out who exactly this 'fisherman' was.

As I pondered what Vaughn may have told my father, I felt my anger welling up again and I balled my hand into a fist as the distinct memory of that smell came rushing back to me. That revolting, sickly sweet smell. Chelsea's smell. Oh how I hated her after that. I was like a spoilt child who'd had their favourite toy taken away from them only to watch it be given to another child. Fury, bitterness and loathing coursed through my veins as I remembered her cheery, smiling face. I very much wanted to hurt her again. To exact another level of vengeance. But how? How could I hurt her more than I already had? I'd almost killed her in the fire; it hadn't been my intention, but it had happened all the same. Even though I'd done it with a view to driving her out, it hadn't deterred her determination to remain on the farm and she just picked herself up and carried on. The people in town loved her and offered her the help and care she needed to restart from scratch. How was I meant to counteract that?

In spite of what many people on the islands thought of me back then, I wasn't particularly interested in spending my father's money. Until that point I'd never really wanted anything and I wasn't weak enough to get drawn into fads such as smoking or drugs or alcohol like other rich kids of my generation often do. I saw those as pointless and self-destructive habits that I thought myself too good for. No, I preferred not to touch my father's money. I had all the details to his banks and had authorisation to take whatever I needed, but I had never been inclined to do so. Although I did do some book-keeping work for him when he couldn't trust his hired accountant to do it, I never really flexed my financial muscles, so to speak.

However, all that was about to change.

When my desktop screen loaded up, I opened up a web browser and typed in 'fresh produce exporter' into the default search engine. The first name on the top of the list that appeared was Forget-Me-Not Fruits, one of the contracted suppliers of a big supermarket chain on the mainland. I swivelled my mouse over the name on the screen for a moment before clicking on it and bringing up the website. The suppliers were a family run farming company on the mainland that specialised in fruits, but also exported vegetables too. They were a moderately sized business that was eagerly looking to expand outside their borders. All their contact details for various different departments were listed on their website and there was a detailed rundown of how their business was run.

Further intrigued, I brought up the profile of the family in charge of the business and I wrinkled my nose when I saw the pictures of the family. The head of the business, a stocky woman called Vesta, stood next to her burly younger brother, Marlin, as he held his young son on his hip with his pretty wife stood on the other side of him. They represented a close-knit farming family that was easy to identify with. It was so twee that I actually felt uncomfortable looking at the picture and quickly pressed backspace to bring myself back to the contact details page.

I stared at the telephone numbers listed for a moment, a smile coming to my lips as I envisioned what I was planning to do. It all seemed so infallible; I was surprised I hadn't thought about it sooner. With a full grin, I noted down the telephone number for the head office and proceeded to flex those financial muscles that I'd never thought to use before.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed that chapter. This was markedly easier to write than the previous chapter, though I'm not sure I did Sabrina's psychosis justice. I apologise if the chapter seems a bit confusing at first, but it's one of those chapters that get explained later on as Chelsea and co. discover what's going on.

I will probably slow down with the chapters over the next week or so, since 'Plan Japan' is finally getting put into action. (SO SCAREEEDDD) I'll be flying out to the land of the rising sun on the 9th, so I've got a lot of packing and preparation work to do in the next week and a bit. Have to learn some more Japanese too!


	49. Face the Music

**Chapter Forty Nine**

_Face the Music_

When Lily and Will finally decided that they would get married on the second day of Spring, I knew that something bad was going to happen. As the Winter days fell away from the calendar in our kitchen, I could feel my panic growing. I began to feel like time was fighting against me, dragging me kicking and screaming towards the inevitable. By mid-Winter I had become a nervous wreck, always jumping in fear whenever I saw Elliot move too fast or put his hand into his pockets. He would always look up at me questioningly when he saw me jerk back, his eyes wide in hurt surprise. It made me hate myself and I slowly became more withdrawn and paranoid.

"Where's Chelsea?" Lily asked, turning to look at Lanna, Natalie and I.

We were sat down on the white leather couch that was situated in front of the viewing podium in the wedding dress shop. The room we had been ushered into was bright, pleasantly decorated and the faint scent of flowers hung in the air – clearly attempting to emulate the atmosphere of a church. I could actually feel my skin itching from just sitting there and I desperately wanted to leave, but I knew I couldn't. Wanting our approval and opinions on the wedding dresses she'd been considering, Lily had begged the four of us to go with her to the dress shop on the mainland. While we had all agreed to go, Chelsea had said she'd be arriving late since she had 'business' to attend to first; my guess was that she was busy with my cousin.

Lanna shrugged slowly as Lily turned back to her reflection. "No idea. She said she was coming late though. Busy with farm stuff, I guess."

"Nah, I reckon she's busy milking," Natalie said with a smirk.

"Milking? Doesn't she milk her cows early in the morning though?" Lanna asked.

"She wasn't referring to the cows," I answered, shooting Natalie a scathing look as she stuck her tongue into her cheek.

"Well at least she's getting some," Lanna replied with a sigh. "I wonder when I should pounce on Skye. It's oh so tempting to now that he's in my house, but I know I have to wait."

"Wait for what? His balls to turn blue?" Natalie asked in disbelief. "You've had that guy living in your apartment for almost two weeks and you still haven't jumped him? Jesus, you're more frigid than I thought."

Lanna coloured. "I don't want to appear easy. I like him; he's not an asshole."

"We don't know that."

"He's Chelsea's good friend, isn't he?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but there's obviously a reason why Chelsea never considered him as a candidate."

"That's because they're friends though!" Lanna replied with a frustrated sigh. "She was dating someone else back when they first met, right?"

"Yeah, but after she broke up with Mark there was nothing stopping her from liking him. I have this hypothesis that guys and girls can never truly be friends if neither of them is in a relationship with someone else. If they're both single and they get along great as friends, the likelihood is that one or both will start feeling attraction. It's all about personal chemistry – if they can get along with one another as friends, what's stopping them from developing it into something deeper?"

"Shut up. You're depressing me," Lanna replied, flicking her hair over her shoulder moodily.

"Just bonk him already," Natalie said with a sigh.

Suddenly the door to the viewing room flew open and Chelsea marched in with red cheeks, her hair in disarray and an angry looking mark on her neck. We all turned to stare at her as she stood in the doorway, trying to catch her breath back while she stared up at Lily's dress. Her blue eyes were alive with emotion as they swept the tiny Asian from head to toe and a wide grin broke out across her face as her eyes met with Lily's.

"You look gorgeous," she wheezed, before turning to close the double doors behind her. "Sorry I'm late. Did I miss anything?"

"What's that thing on your neck?" Lanna asked innocently. "Did you bruise yourself?"

Natalie and I turned to look at her in disbelief, all of us remaining silent for a long moment before Natalie broke out into uncontrolled laughter. While my best friend was doubled up with hysteria, I tried my best to restrain my own laughter as I said, "You're such a bimbo."

"What?"

"It's a hickey," Lily explained with a grin. "Vaughn is marking his territory, I see."

Chelsea went beet red and her hand flew up to the kiss-mark, clearly remembering exactly where it was without even looking in the mirror. She ignored Natalie's laughter and took a seat next to Lanna, keeping her hand over the mark so that Lanna couldn't scrutinise it further. In spite of her embarrassment, she looked happy and she ran her other hand through her mussed hair with a whimsical smile.

In the few weeks they'd been together, both Vaughn and Chelsea had changed. While Chelsea's change was relatively easy to understand, Vaughn's changes were more subtle and more surprising. He still didn't smile very much, nor did his taciturn way of speaking change, but there was something different in the air around him whenever Chelsea was in the same room. His eyes would always follow her unconsciously and his face seemed more open and honest whenever she was near him, almost as if he was letting his guard down only for her. What surprised us the most though was that he began to laugh more, even when she wasn't around. It wasn't the strained, under his breath chuckle though – it was full, out-loud laughter. It had shocked my Ma so much when she'd first heard it that she dropped the box of milk pumps she'd been carrying.

I was about to tell Chelsea about it when we heard the doors to the viewing room open again. Not realising we were expecting someone else, I half turned to look at who it was and I went completely still. Stood at the door was Sabrina, her hair let loose casually down her shoulders while her glasses had been traded in for contact lenses. Without her glasses she looked a lot prettier than usual, though it was easier to see the cruelty in her eyes when they settled on Chelsea. As the two women's eyes met there was a frisson in the air between them. Negative tension that was laced with venom and hatred.

"Hey Sabrina! So glad you could make it!" Lily greeted her, oblivious to the change in the atmosphere.

"Thanks for inviting me," Sabrina gushed, turning back to look at Lily with a kind smile that looked genuine but I knew was fake. I saw her eyes dart towards me quickly before fixing back on Lily. "You look amazing. Is that the dress you decided on?"

"No, I think I need to try on the strapless one again. I think I want to show off my shoulders a bit more," Lily replied, turning back to the mirror to inspect herself. "I thought I'd be able to pull off a Kate Middleton style dress, but I really can't do it justice."

"I'm sure you'll look gorgeous regardless of the dress you choose," Chelsea replied, her voice sounding steelier than usual.

Lily glanced over her shoulder Chelsea, not understanding why her voice had gone hard. "What's wrong?"

Unable to contain herself any longer, Natalie stood up and whirled round to look at Sabrina. Knowing that this sort of reaction from Natalie was actually quite typical, a smirk tugged at Sabrina's tiny lips as she folded her arms across her chest. Further incensed by this, Natalie looked fit to burst; her cheeks turned nearly as red as her hair and her jaw quavered with tension. However, in spite of this, she managed to keep her cool. I think everyone, excluding Lily, was surprised at how composed our friend was when she finally spoke.

"Why did you come here today?" she asked in a low, serious tone.

Not understanding, Lily interjected. "I invited her. Is there a problem?"

"Sorry Lily, but yes, there is," Natalie replied, glancing up guiltily at the bride-to-be before turning back to Sabrina. "So, explain yourself. Why are you here?"

"It's as Lily said, she invited me," Sabrina replied, her eyebrow arched upwards as she glanced at Chelsea expectantly. Although I couldn't be sure, I had a feeling that she was a little surprised that it was Natalie that was confronting her and not Chelsea herself. Chelsea remained seated and had turned back to Lily while her face remained deceptively serene.

"Sorry Sabrina, but I can't believe that." Natalie took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't know what your agenda is, but I'm warning you that you need to stay away."

"I don't see what the problem is. I'm here to help my cousin's bride pick out her wedding dress," Sabrina replied blithely with a wave of her hand as she closed the door behind her and ventured into the room. "Is that so wrong? Besides, I'm sure Chelsea's probably over all that drama. She's a strong, independent woman, is she not?"

"Yes, she is, which is the reason she didn't die when you set fire to her home," I piped up, growing agitated by her presence. I knew she'd come to the dress appraisal simply to cause a scene with Chelsea, and I refused to let Sabrina drag her into a direct confrontation.

Almost as soon as I spoke, Sabrina's eyes swivelled to meet mine and there was a cold contempt in them that I'd not seen before. Her top lip curled into a nasty sneer that made her face change from being effortlessly beautiful to shockingly ugly; it was the first time I'd seen that expression on her and I was so taken aback by it that I almost didn't hear the next words she spoke. "I hear that I'm to congratulate you on your own happy nuptials. I was told that Elliot went ring shopping the other day."

My blood ran cold after hearing this. Everything in the room went still and I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me. Had I heard her correctly? Had Elliot gone ring shopping already? How did she know that? _Why_ did she know that?

"What with all this wedding excitement going on, it's no wonder that Elliot turned to Will first when he decided to buy the ring. He's proposed already, right?" Sabrina asked with feigned innocence, pretending to lean forward to look at my hand, but everyone in the room knew that her act was contrived; she knew that he hadn't.

As the wheels in my mind began to turn at a frantic pace, I wondered if Sabrina knew just how much pain her words had caused me. I stared into the cold depths of her eyes and saw no emotion, no remorse, nothing. As if to answer my silent question, the vestiges of a nasty smile formed around her mouth and I knew that she was more aware than anyone of my fear of marriage. Just as I had been watching her and maintaining my distant observation of her, she too had noticed and observed me - more likely because of my relationship with Vaughn than because I interested her. I was merely a side character in her twisted schemes, but it didn't stop her from knowing how exactly to hurt me.

"Sabrina, why did you just spoil it?" Lily asked in disgust. "You _know_ he hasn't yet!"

I felt light headed and I rose to my feet without realising it. The room blurred. The voices and uproar around me as the girls started arguing faded to nothing but a gentle hum in the back of my mind as I started putting one foot in front of the other, my pace quickening to a run as I fled from the room with my heart beating a thundering rhythm in my ears.

With my senses dulled and my fear gripping me so tightly that I found it difficult to breath, I dashed passed the startled sales assistant in the store and slammed open the front door as I ran into the street. The daylight hit my face unwelcomingly as I ran in any random direction, shunting people out of the way and almost falling over my own feet as I ran aimlessly. I didn't realise that Chelsea and Natalie had been following me until I finally tripped up on a misaligned paving stone and was sent flying forward. I hit the floor with a heavy thud and cried out in surprised agony. As the pain from the scrape on my knee burned up my leg, I turned to see Chelsea and Natalie running towards me.

Chelsea's eyes, which had been so filled with happiness only ten minutes before were filled with worry as she dropped to her knees next to me to look at my injury. Natalie, on the other hand, stopped a short distance away and stared down at me with the complicated expression that I knew meant that she was battling with herself; her concern for me as a friend was at odds with her loyalty to her brother.

"What's going on Julia?" she asked, her voice strained as she tried to control her explosive anger. It seems that she'd been practising keeping it under control, but she was struggling desperately. I shook my head, not wanting to make a verbal reply, and that tipped her over the edge. "Fucking tell me goddamnit! Stop hiding this shit from me when it's clearly a fucking problem!"

"Natalie!" Chelsea hissed.

"No, she has to 'fess the fuck up already. I'm sick of this bullshit," Natalie snapped.

"I'm sorry," I said through a fresh wave of tears. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?!"

"I can't. Natalie, I just can't."

"Can't what? Can't marry my brother? Is that was this is about?"

A choking sob rose in my throat. "Yes. I just can't do it Natalie."

"Why?!" she yelled, falling to her knees next to Chelsea and shoving her out of the way so she could grip me by my shoulders. "Why can't you marry him?! Don't you love him anymore?!" she yelled, shaking me roughly.

"It's _because_ I love him!" I yelled back, shoving her hands away. "I can't marry him Nat! Marriage fucking terrifies me because I've never seen a successful marriage. Neither have you! You were the one who pointed it out to me when we were girls, remember? You pointed out all the people around us, all the failed marriages and unhappy single parents!"

"So you blame me?!" she snarled.

"Guys, calm down," Chelsea tried to mediate, but we ignored her.

"I don't blame you, but I know that you understand! You understand better than anyone because you've seen it too!"

Natalie's face scrunched up in disgust. "But it hasn't left me chronically scared of matrimony."

"Yes, because Felicia had Taro! You had your grandfather to help you get through it. I never had that. My family ostracised my Ma," I sobbed, wiping the snot and tears away with the back of my hand. "We didn't have anyone and my Ma struggled to raise me by herself. It also didn't help that Uncle Eric kept dumping Vaughn with us either! Can you imagine how difficult it was for her? Do you know what it feels like to feel guilty that you're happily in love while your own mother was so carelessly abandoned by your father? No, you don't!"

"You cannot keep blaming the past for your current behaviour!" Natalie roared. "That was then, this is now! You're going to shit all over your relationship with Elliot because of something completely unrelated to it!"

"I want to stay with him!" I reasoned. "I love him more than life itself, but I just can't marry him!"

"It'll break him, you know," Natalie said, not wanting to understand my reasoning. "He'll be heartbroken. He'll never recover."

"And that's partly your fault," I snapped back. "You keep undermining him, making him feel like dirt. He's your older brother and yet you walk all over him like a doormat. Do you know how hard it's been for me to keep quiet and not interfere? I've never even spoken to you about it before because I knew he wouldn't want me interfering, but I can't stand by and let you pin his fragility on me when it's just as much your fault as it is mine."

Not wanting to hear anymore, Natalie stood up. Tears had already started falling from her eyes and she angrily wiped them away with her sleeve. "You can point fingers all you want Julia, but it doesn't change the fact that what you're doing is wrong. You're my friend and I love you, but I love my brother more and I can't stand by and watch this. You better accept his proposal when he makes it or it'll destroy more than just him, it'll destroy our friendship too."

"You can't do that to me Natalie!" I yelled back at her, feeling a chill run through me at the thought of losing Natalie too. In fact, I think the idea of losing _her_ scared me more than the idea of losing Elliot – I hadn't realised that she'd react so strongly and it frightened me that I would lose both of them.

Natalie turned her back on me for a moment before glancing over her shoulder and saying, "Well tough luck. I just did." And with that, she turned on her heel and left.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long for me to write. I've been so busy with my new life in Japan that I've had very little opportunity to actually sit down and write properly. While I enjoy my current job and living situation, things have become a bit too difficult at work and now I'm considering switching jobs. Basically I need more monies! Anyway, life has been so much fun here recently and I've started going out a lot with my new friends, so my free time along has dwindled to practically nothing. 9 hour work days will do that to you!

Anyway, I apologise for the lateness and crappiness of this chapter. I hope the next one will be a bit more exciting since it's more Vaughn centric. Gotta love that Vaughn/Chelsea storyline I've got in the works~

Thank you all for waiting so patiently and I really appreciate your reviews and support!


	50. Consequences

**Chapter Fifty**

Consequences

I looked up at Taro's farmhouse with a furrowed brow as I prepared myself for the long conversation I knew I was about to have with him. Although Julia had reminded me to speak to him weeks before, I'd been putting it off in the hopes that he wouldn't find out and I wouldn't have to face the obvious consequences of my new relationship with Chelsea.

In the weeks after our confirmation of our mutual feelings, we'd both grown so comfortable with one another that it was almost as if we'd always been together. We fell into a pattern where we'd both wake up together, have breakfast together, go to work together and then return to the farmhouse together where we'd make love until we became exhausted and fell asleep, only waking again at around dinner time. Often I would wake earlier and watch her slumbering form, tracing the tips of my fingers over those soft curves I'd been dreaming about for all those months. Some part of me had expected to quickly grow tired of her, as I had with the other girls I'd been sexually involved with, but as time went by I realised that I wasn't; I was actually becoming ever more fascinated by her. The intensity of those feelings scared me a little.

After knocking on the door and being shown into Taro's study by Felicia, I sat awkwardly in the leather padded seat across from his large oak desk. He sat in front of me with a pair of spectacles perched on his nose, his eyes scanning his account books critically before letting out a long sigh and looking up at me with equal disapproval. Having never had a solid father figure in my life, I was strangely unnerved by the way he was looking at me; I felt like a young boy about to be scolded and it wasn't a feeling I enjoyed having.

"You owe me some money," he began, taking his glasses off.

"She hasn't lost yet," I replied.

"She might as well have, since you're now dating her," Taro said.

I frowned. "You disapprove of us?"

He took a sharp intake of breath. "Quite frankly, yes. You know that we all had high hopes for her to be our permanent resident farmer – someone to keep the import farmers from trying to set up shop here like they've been wanting to for years."

"And how does my dating her change that?"

"You're a distraction to her that she should not have to deal with right now." He paused and looked over his glasses at me sternly before continuing. "Now you've got a choice to make; you cannot continue to date her and remain on the festival judging panels, and you know full well what _that_ means," he said, his eyebrows rising for further emphasis.

My top lip curled upwards in distaste. "Why does it have to be _him_ that replaces me?"

"Because he's the next most qualified and it'll ensure that the competition is judged fairly. I am well aware that you're now helping her with her livestock every day –Julia's informed me of that much- and that means she's getting a huge advantage over the other participants in the competition. The only way to keep it fair is to bring in a judge that I know will be more critical as a result. We all want Chelsea to win, but we must keep it fair. _That_ man is the only one qualified and determined enough to do it properly –he's not likely to fall for her charms like many of the other judges will."

I grimaced. "You don't know him very well if that's what you believe."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm aware that he's a playboy and he's likely to hit on her, but he keeps his personal life and professional life completely separate. Quite unlike you," Taro quipped back.

I felt my jaw clench at the idea. I knew Taro was right. I _had_ been helping Chelsea with her livestock, and the competitions were meant for amateur farmers. As a livestock expert, my help would obviously throw the balance off and I suddenly became aware of the fact that my help was actually putting her at a huge disadvantage. It had always been something that had nagged at the back of my mind, but after ignoring it for so long it was now coming back to bite me in the ass. In spite of this though, I couldn't bring myself to regret it.

"Fine. I officially quit my judging post," I replied. "I promise I won't distract her and I'll cut down the amount of help I give her. As for my replacement, I'll call him and tell him myself."

Hearing this, Taro's expression softened. He sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers as he stared at me with those clever eyes, almost as if he were reading me like a book. After a long moment, he laced his fingers together and rested them on his lap calmly. "You've changed."

I felt the corners of my mouth tug into a half smile. "Everyone keeps saying that."

"Because it's true," Taro said. "Your whole… aura has changed. It's almost as if you've settled and stopped looking for whatever it was that you were looking for. I don't think I've ever seen you looking as content as you do now. Is that how you feel?"

"Not sure what you're referring to, but I'm happy, if that's what you mean," I replied with a shrug.

"And this isn't just some lustful whim of yours?" he probed, tilting his head to the side.

My nostrils flared and my jaw stiffened as I replied, "I'm not like my father."

"Oh, I know you're not," he replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "But I still question whether your feelings for Chelsea are genuine. It all happened so quickly. You went from hating her to adoring her so quickly that I can't be sure what to think. I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from, of course."

I inhaled deeply before fixing the old man with a glare. "Trust me, these feelings were a long time in the making. It didn't happen overnight."

"Are you sure it's not just guilt?" he asked me.

"Huh?"

"About the incident at the cow festival?" he added with a nod.

My eyes widened for a second and then I felt myself smiling. "Actually, I'd almost forgotten about that."

Taro's eyes narrowed and he let out a dissatisfied 'hurmph' noise as he sat back in his chair again.

"I mean it when I say that I care about her," I said forcefully. "I'm not just fooling around."

Taro's moustache twitched. "Do you see yourself staying with her?"

This question threw me and I froze. "What do you mean?"

"Don't act dumb, boy. You know what I mean."

I shook my head, still not understanding.

"Marriage!" Taro explained in exasperation.

Something inside my stomach knotted at the idea. Marriage? It hadn't even crossed my mind. We'd only been together for a short time and to have that term thrown in my face so quickly was enough to make any man nervous.

Taro understood my silence and chuckled gently. "The reason I ask is because you seem to have forgotten that this is _not_ your home. You were intending to stay only to help her out while she was injured and yet you've been here for almost two seasons, and the only reason is because of her. Even now that she's well enough to take care of herself, you're still lingering. What about your obligation to your father? Your job back on the mainland?"

"My father can look after himself," I replied moodily. "Besides, he's been away from home longer than I have just so he can chase women."

"So you're saying that because he did it, it's okay for you to do it?"

I sighed and took my hat off, dropping it onto my lap as I ran my free hand through my hair. "No, it's not the same thing at all. I'm not chasing women – I _have_ a woman – and I'm determined to protect her against those who want to harm her."

"I assume you're referring to the DeLauer girl."

"She set fire to Chelsea's house," I said, turning to look out of the window that faced the town square. "She's already confessed it to Chelsea and it's obvious that she still harbours a grudge against her because of me."

"You're entirely to blame for that," Taro pointed out.

"I know!" I exclaimed angrily. "That's why I have to stay here. I don't trust Sabrina and I don't want to leave Chelsea vulnerable exactly when she needs me the most."

"I understand your concern, but you're forgetting something very important about the little farmer." Taro closed his accounts book and pulled out a different one from his desk. It was Chelsea's shipping history. He flipped it open to the previous month's revenue with a proud smile. "In spite of that fire, Chelsea's profits didn't diminish as much as we'd initially though. She recovered quickly by planting those quick growing vegetables and paying more careful attention to her livestock in order to increase their yields."

"You're forgetting how much money she had to spend on fertiliser," I replied. "She only just managed to break even."

"Yes, but she did it in time to keep the soil in good condition for the spring harvest. She's no fool, that girl. Although she had no previous experience with farming, she did her homework and now look at her. She's survived a fire, an injury and goddess knows what other drama my grandchildren and their friends' have thrown her way. You need to give her more credit – she's not a damsel in distress."

"I know that."

Taro sighed. "I don't think you do. Chelsea is not broken like Sabrina – there's nothing for you to fix."

"I don't want to talk about that woman," I snapped. "I know Chelsea isn't broken, but isn't it natural to want to protect someone you love?"

The old man's eyes crinkled and the corners of his mouth rose into a strange sort of smile. "I never thought I'd see the day where that word would come out of your mouth in reference to a woman. This is exactly what I meant when I said that you've changed; you're acting more on impulse and emotions than before."

Grumbling, I looked up at the ceiling. "Yes, I'm aware of that. I'm still deciding whether it's a good thing or a bad thing."

"I'd be more inclined to go with the former," Taro replied. "You know, I'm actually surprised that you fell for that girl."

"Who, Chelsea?"

He shook his head. "No, the other one. Sabrina."

"I'm confused."

"It's understandable why you fell for Chelsea. She's the type of girl that anyone could easily fall in love with; uncomplicated and unassuming, also beautiful in a completely non-threatening way. But Sabrina? She's complicated. Only a similarly complicated person would be able to date her, let alone consider marrying her. What was it about you that she became so attached to?"

I shrugged. "I really didn't know myself. She always said that she thought that I was like her, that there was something about the way I treated the people around me that reminded her of herself somehow. Thinking back, I can understand why she made that mistake. I was highly judgemental of everyone back when I first met her – I didn't like letting anyone get close to me emotionally and even with her, I was simply projecting my ideals onto her. It's strange really."

"Do you regret it?"

"Huh?"

Taro rested his elbows on his table and leant forward slightly. "Getting involved with Sabrina in the first place."

Taking a moment to think about it, I felt myself smiling as I replied, "I don't regret any of it. Even though Sabrina's causing me so much trouble now, the consequences have brought me closer to Chelsea. Why do you think I've been so unwilling to leave?"

"Ah, Vaughn my boy, it's wonderful to see you finally becoming human," the old man replied with a chuckle. "I've watched you grow up over the years and I always worried about how you'd turn out. I'm sure your father will agree, when he sees how you've changed. Have you spoken to him recently?"

"He's called me a few times but I've never called back," I replied, not feeling any guilt about it. "He can take care of the ranch by himself - I just made his life easier."

"And you'd give up the ranch to help Chelsea run her farm?" Taro asked testily.

I would have been lying if I'd said that it hadn't crossed my mind. It had. Several times. Of course, Chelsea had never suggested the idea to me, but one morning when I watched her scurry naked across her farmhouse to get to the shower, the idea popped into my head. What if I did move in with her? Of course, our relationship was still very new, since we'd only been intimate for a short while, but what if? I'd practically been living at her farm anyway and it's not like my father would have really missed my help.

"Earth to Vaughn?" Taro said, waving his wrinkled hand in front of my face when he'd noticed me spacing out.

"Yeah, sorry," I said, reaching up to rub my eyes and feign exhaustion. "Didn't sleep well last night."

"I can guess why," he replied with a smirk before rising from his seat. "Anywho, I have some errands to run. I formally accept your resignation from the judging panel and I look forward to seeing how well Chelsea does next year."

"Yeah, she'll do great – with or without my help," I replied with a smile.

* * *

><p>After the incident back on the mainland, Julia and Natalie didn't speak to each other. In the wake of their argument, Julia desperately wanted to talk to Natalie again and make her see her side of the story, but Natalie wasn't having it. Whenever Julia came over to speak to her, she would turn her head and walk in a different direction to avoid her, her nose held high in the air scornfully. In my opinion, Natalie was acting like a child and it started to piss me off when she even started ignoring me because I refused to cut contact with Julia.<p>

I was wondering what to do about the whole situation as I waited for Vaughn to get back from wherever he'd gone. After taking care of the animals, he'd gone out somewhere without explaining and I felt strangely lost without him there with me; how had I become so used to him being there? My mind was torn between thinking about my friends and thinking about Vaughn, rotating in sickening circles as I watched the minutes tick tick tick by.

It was around five o'clock by the time Vaughn eventually did come home and as soon as he walked through the front door I asked, "Where were you?"

He didn't answer immediately and I was left to watch as he methodically dusted the snow off of his coat and hat and hung both up before turning to face me. He put his hands in his pockets and stayed near the door as he frowned thoughtfully, his eyes slowly examining me from head to toe.

"I was just at Taro's place," he finally said.

"Oh?"

He cleared his throat. "I resigned from my post as a festival judge."

My jaw dropped. "What? Why?!"

Vaughn rolled his eyes and stalked over to me. Without a word, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him, his other arm snaking around my waist in one practised motion as I stared up at him in surprise. He bent down to brush a gentle kiss on my lips before saying quietly, "You."

I blinked dumbly. "Me?"

"I can't retain my judging position and stay involved with you. It would be unfair to the other contestants since I wouldn't be able to remain unbiased," he mumbled as he kissed a trail across my cheek to my ear. He nibbled my earlobe before whispering, "Not to mention the fact that you'd be a huge distraction."

"Me? A distraction?" I said coyly, exhaling as I tilted my head back when his lips came down on my neck. I felt my worries fade away as I wrapped my arms around him and revelled in the sensation, emitting a moan as he found the sensitive sweet spot near my collarbone. "I think you're the bigger distraction."

Without warning he picked me up and swung me up onto the counter, spreading my legs with his hips as he started tugging at my blouse. As soon as the buttons on my blouse were undone, it went flying across to the other side of the room and my hands started greedily pulling at Vaughn's shirt. Impatient with it, he pulled it right over his head and I sighed happily as my hands trailed over his muscled chest. Going for his belt, I considered what he'd just told me and suddenly a thought occurred to me.

"So who is replacing you on the judging panel?" I asked.

Vaughn went rigid and his grip on my thighs loosened. He pulled back a fraction and his expression looked oddly vulnerable. His eyes were wide and all the passion I'd seen in them had vanished upon hearing my question. His mouth fell open as if he was about to speak, but he quickly shut it and inched away from me a little.

"What's wrong?" I asked, gripping his belt and trying to pull him back towards me.

"I've made things difficult for you," he suddenly said, backing away completely and turning his back to me.

Confused and slightly miffed that he'd abruptly stopped what we were doing, I hopped off of the kitchen counter and grabbed his arm. Turning him to face me again, I asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Now that I'm off the judging panel, Taro has to get in a judge that he knows won't be biased. I was the fairest judge at the festivals before all this happened, but now that I've been compromised Taro has to bring in a suitable replacement," he explained with a sigh as he pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down. "To make matters worse, I've also been helping you with your animals too much and now the competition has become unbalanced as a result. Farmers are meant to do all the work without expert assistance."

"I still don't see how that's made things difficult for me," I replied. "Taro will just get a harsher judge. It won't be _that_ unbalanced, surely?"

He shook his head. "The reason," he began, glancing at me guiltily before turning away and continuing again. "The reason it's made things difficult for you in particular is because of _who_ my replacement is."

"And who is your replacement?" I asked, still not understanding.

Vaughn screwed his face up in distaste before turning to me fully and replying. "It's my father."

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Thanks for the reviews and encouragement everyone! Sorry that my updates are now really slow – it's difficult to find the energy to write when I have to work such long hours.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write, surprisingly enough. While I still enjoy writing this story, my muses for my next story are reaching their limit and I may start writing my new story too. I'll have the first chapter for my new story up soonish, but I'll probably get another BIMY chapter out before that.

Hope you guys are all enjoying your summers! Japan is WAAAAY too hot here at the moment! Hot and humid. Blurgh.


	51. Snowball

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Long time no update, I know! I was having problems with work in Japan which were distracting me and draining me of all the creative energy I had, which is why I moved back to the UK a couple of months ago. Now that I'm back, hopefully I'll be able to churn out more chapters. As always, reviews and encouragement are much appreciated and I apologise to those of you who have been waiting for so long.

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><p><strong>Chapter Fifty One<strong>

_Snowball_

The revelation that Vaughn's father was taking over his judging position came as a shock to me. I guess it was probably the most logical option, if you look at it from Taro's point-of-view, but somehow I knew that it would be to my disadvantage. I had always known that Vaughn would have to give up the judging position to keep the competition fair, but the idea of _Vaughn's father_ being the replacement judge put me on edge. If his father was anything like he was, I had a feeling that maybe he would be stricter and harder to please, possibly even harder on me because I was dating his son.

Although it was a worry that remained on my mind for a while after he told me, I didn't have much time to really think about. I was working hard to take care of my buckwheat crops and I was spending money on having the barn properly insulated so that my animals wouldn't be too cold for the rest of winter. Vaughn helped around the farm as much as he could, but I could tell that he was beginning to pull back bit by bit so that I could prepare for the competitions. I often caught him watching me as I worked, looking pensive and clearly troubled that he couldn't help me, which made my heart swell with love for him because I could tell how he was feeling.

Whilst we spent the first couple of weeks of our new relationship pretty much cloistered in my farmhouse, we were unable to reject Taro's invitation to go to the Snow Festival. It was an event that Taro organised every year where the attendees were split into two groups and made to compete against each other for fun. After taking the boat to Meadow Island, we arrived to find a stage set up at the top of the field where Taro waited for the crowds to gather. Finally, after the majority of the townspeople had arrived, he brought the Megaphone to his mouth and began his announcement.

"Today is the height of winter! As usual, our snow festival this year has been blessed with fresh snowfall the night before. Now, like last year, we are going to have a grand competition. However, this year it is not a snowman building competition. Nor is it a snow angel competition like the year before that. No… today, we are going to have a good old fashion snowball fight! We are going to be split into teams. One team wearing these lovely pink armbands that my daughter stitched together and the other team wearing the blue bands that the very generous Carol has worked on."

Everyone around the field looked very excited, beginning to chatter away as Taro cleared his throat before continuing.

"The rules are: there are no rules! It's a snowfight till you drop. However, once you leave the confines of the field or go to sit down, you're out of the game. It's a test of endurance ladies and gentlemen! The team with the most members left standing on the field by the time the clock reaches 3pm will be the winner!"

I glanced up at Vaughn with a grim expression. "That's three hours of snowball fighting… I don't think I'll be able to last."

Expecting Vaughn to feel the same way, I was shocked to see him grin with an almost menacing glint in his eye. "So it looks like I'll last longer than you. Great news for my team."

"You're going on the other team?" I asked challengingly.

"Of course," he said, still grinning as we began to line up to collect our armbands.

I sighed dramatically. "You're just looking for an excuse to bully me, aren't you?"

"I need an excuse?" he said, grabbing my backside before joining the line for the other team.

I stared after him with a smile playing on my lips, but my smile quickly dropped when I saw Julia coming towards me with an agitated look. In the background I could see Natalie glaring after her, her arms folded haughtily across her chest before she turned to say something to her mother. Natalie's complete disregard for Julia's feelings irked me and I felt this sudden overprotective urge towards Julia. As she approached, she wrapped her arms around herself and lowered her gaze, joining me in the queue silently.

"I'm guessing she's still being the queen of bitches then," I said as we reached the halfway point in the queue. "Opposite team, I'm guessing?"

"She says she won't talk to me," Julia replied miserably. "I've tried apologising and explaining again, but she won't hear of it."

"I know she's worried about Elliot, but I think she's treating you abominably," I replied.

"Chelsea, don't," she quickly said. "Look, it's my fault. I'm the one with the problem."

I rolled my eyes. "She could at least be a bit more understanding."

She shrugged and glanced over at Elliot. Already wearing his band, he was chucking snowballs at the other local lads, laughing and occasionally stopping to wipe the slush off of his glasses. "Why should she? If I were in her position, I probably wouldn't act any differently."

Once Julia and I had acquired our armbands, joining the same team while Vaughn, Natalie and Elliot were on the other side, we took our positions on the field. I moved around trying to find a spot where there were less people so I could stay back for as long as possible, but as soon as moved, Vaughn moved to mirror me. He smiled evilly, stooping down to gather a snowball in his hands. I copied him, trying to hold back my own smile as I momentarily forgot about all the problems piling up around me and focused on the gorgeous man across the field.

"Are you ready?!" Taro called once everyone had collected their armbands and positioned themselves on the field.

"Yes!" the crowd roared.

"Are you steady?!" Taro asked again.

"Yes!"

"Then let the fight begin! GO!"

As soon as Taro blew his whistle, a chorus of cheers went up as both sides hurtled towards each other. A flurry of snowballs flew everywhere and I was so distracted with dodging them that I almost missed the snowball Vaughn had thrown straight at me. Ducking just in time, I looked up in time to see him coming at me as if he planned to tackle me. Squealing in panic, I threw my snowball at him, hitting him square in the face and stopping him in his tracks. I froze, suddenly afraid that maybe my good aim had crossed the line a bit, I watched as he wiped the snow off of his face. He stared down at his hands before glancing up at me with a blank expression, as if he couldn't believe I'd hit him in the face. Slowly, a smile spread over his lips and he bent down to gather another snowball. Squealing, I began to run away only to get hit on the backside by his snowball.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" he cried, chasing after me as I ran away half-screaming and half-laughing.

As I ran away from Vaughn and desperately tried to avoid getting hit, I noticed in the corner of my eye that Julia was running away from Elliot too. However, unlike me, her expression of fear was genuine and she ignored every snowball thrown her way, desperately trying to keep her distance from a very confused but amused Elliot. He chased after her laughing, calling her name cheerfully as she ran as fast as her long legs could carry her. Part of me wanted to help her somehow, so as I ran I grabbed a snowball right out of an unsuspecting person's hand and hurled it in Elliot's direction. Unfortunately, the ball sailed right over Elliot's head and hit the back of Natalie's head. Her face red from exercise and her expression sour, she looked in my direction briefly before glaring angrily and gathering a ball of her own which I knew had my name on it.

Picking up my pace, I quickly glanced around to see where Vaughn was and I ended up tripping up on my own feet. I flew forward almost in slow motion, hitting the snow covered floor on my side with a muffled 'oof'. As I lay in the snow I paused for a moment, trying to get my breath back, before looking up and finding Vaughn standing above me with another snowball. Struggling to get to my feet, I didn't get far because he clamped his hand around my wrist. Before I could get any further, he pushed the snowball into my face and I screamed in outrage, kicking and squirming away from him as I wiped my face. I could hear him laughing hysterically and in my own haze of anger, I picked up another snowball and pushed it into his face as he was laughing.

"Did it taste nice?" I asked half-angry, half-mischievously as he spat out the snowball.

I could tell that the last snowball had maybe been a bit too much for him because he was frowning, with only traces of his smile still lingering around the corners of his mouth. "Point taken."

Before I could say anything else, he suddenly grabbed me by the waist and picked me up. Putting me over his shoulder as he carried me across the field, I felt my face turn red as a series of catcalls and whistles went up at the sight of him man-handling me so publically. I couldn't figure out where he was bringing me until I heard the sound of the ocean.

"Oh my god!" I screamed, squirming angrily. "Put me down Vaughn!"

"You oughta learn a lesson," he said, smacking my backside playfully as he reached the dock.

Clinging to his jacket with my nails, I squealed and tried to cling to him as he neared the edge of the dock. "I'm sorry! Please don't!" I begged, the idea of the freezing cold water removing any fight I had left in me.

"Please don't what?" he asked huskily, running his hand up the back of my thigh. A sudden pang of lust shot through me and I exhaled loudly, my body going limp for a moment as his hand slipped back down my leg to the back of my knee. He began to tickle the back of knees, a very sensitive and ticklish spot for me, and I began to laugh and squirm hysterically. "Please don't what?"

"Please…"I said through uncontrollable laughs. "Don't… water… Please! Stop!"

Suddenly his hand on my knee went to my hips and he readjusted his grip on me, forcing me to straddle him as he turned himself around and away from the water. With my arms around his neck for support, I stared into his face as he released me and put me back on my feet, staring down at me with a ridiculously happy smile on his face.

"Brought back bad memories, huh?" he asked, wiping a bit of snow slush out of my hair.

"Yeah… I thought you were serious for a minute there," I replied.

"I was for a moment," he said, as he linked arms with me and began guiding me back to the field. "You're very easy to tease."

Once we reached the field, we joined the people sat by the hot drinks stall who had already bowed out of the competition. The competition didn't last very long, since most people got wet too quickly, and the competition was left between Elliot, his friends and a few guys from the DeLaur mining crew. After a rather brutal showdown between the two groups, which ended in one of the mining crew spraining his ankle, Elliot's side was declared the winners and a round of applause was given to the remaining few participants.

By the time all the villagers began heading back to the main islands, it had grown dark and Vaughn and I were invited to dinner at Taro's house. Felicia and Mirabelle had gone home ahead of the crowds and had begun preparing a roast dinner at Taro's house, the smell of which hit as soon as the front door was open. Soaking wet from the snow and cold from the winter air, we all revelled in the warmth of Taro's house as we took off our wet things and left them near Taro's fireplace before being shown into the dining room. We were joined by Mirabelle and Julia, who was avoiding looking at Natalie, and Taro began handing out glasses of mulled wine. Pierre had been invited along as well for Natalie's sake, though she looked slightly nervous about having him there for some reason. The dining room was just the right fit for nine people, with the table fully extended to accommodate everyone.

"Okay… wow," I said, looking at the beautifully laid out dining table. "This is pretty fancy."

"Felicia and Mirabelle were determined to have a big family get together today, since it might be difficult on the Starry Night festival," Elliot said with a grin. I must have looked confused for a moment because he quickly said, "Taro is going to the mainland on business that day and Pierre will be filming a commercial."

"A commercial?" I asked glancing at Pierre who suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"Yes. I will be a special guest judge for a cooking competition reality TV show," he said with a crooked smile.

"Wow that's fantastic!" I exclaimed excitedly. "So you're going to be on TV?"

"It's not the first time," Natalie replied. "He's been on other programs before, just not a nationwide broadcast."

"Pretty impressive," Vaughn added quietly with a nod, before returning his gaze to his mulled wine.

The dinner table went silent and Julia sat down next to Elliot with a tight smile, taking a large gulp of her wine as he rested an arm across her shoulders. He kissed the side of her cheek and she smiled at this, though I could still see the worry in her eyes.

As Felicia and Mirabelle began bringing in the food, we all settled down to eat and I found myself reminiscing about my own family's dinner gatherings. The warmth and companionship was something I hadn't realised I'd missed until I sat down with my friend's family and I felt tears start to well up in my eyes as the pangs of homesickness hit me again. Sensing the shift in my mood, Vaughn put his hand over mine on the table, drawing Taro's gaze momentarily before the older man began to talk about his experiences as a farmer during his youth. I listened with a smile, but I felt loneliness stinging in my chest as I glanced around the table and saw the subtle interactions between the two families. While the relationship between Natalie and Julia was clearly frosty, it didn't detract from the atmosphere and I turned my hand around so I could entwine my fingers with Vaughn's.

Leaning towards me he asked quietly, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Just a little homesick," I whispered back, glancing up at him briefly. He kissed me on the forehead before gulping down the last of his mulled wine and asking Taro for another glass.

After dinner, Taro asked Elliot and Natalie to clear the table and suggested that we go out for a walk once everything was tidied. Everyone agreed and once all the dishes had been deposited in the kitchen, we wrapped up in our dried coats and went outside, heading towards the beach. Taro walked along with Natalie and Pierre, while Mirabelle and Felicia walked along with Vaughn and I. They nattered at us about town gossip and while I wanted to listen, I was distracted by Elliot and Julia lagging behind us. I could tell they were talking seriously because they were both frowning and I strained my ears to listen.

"Stop eavesdropping," Vaughn warned, wrapping his arm around my waist.

I was about to reply when out of the corner of my eye I saw Elliot get down on one knee. I covered my mouth to stifle a gasp, but everyone heard it and looked round to see what I was surprised by. I mentally kicked myself for drawing everyone's attention, further aggravating Julia as she stared down at Elliot in startled terror.

Elliot seemed unperturbed by having an audience and took Julia's hand in his. "Julia. You have been my best friend and the centre of my world since we were small kids. I feel like I have loved you all my life and I know I will continue to love you till the day I die. That's why," he paused for a moment, pulling out a small velvet box from his coat pocket. He opened it to reveal an impressively sized diamond ring set in a silver band, eliciting a gasp from the two mothers. "That's why I want you to make me the happiest man on earth and agree to be my wife."

A series of emotions passed over Julia's features as she stared down at the diamond in the box. At first I saw love, her eyes warming as she stared into Elliot's imploring eyes, but then it was quickly replaced with confusion and then fear. Eyes widening, they began to fill with tears as she put her hand over the top of the box and closed it with a snap. Clearly confused, Elliot began blinking quickly as he watched her step away from him, wiping her eyes as she slowly turned and started heading in the opposite direction. Too stunned to understand what had just happened, Elliot looked down at the closed box and continued to blink, tears forming in his own eyes as the enormity of what had just happened hit him.

Without thinking, I felt myself put one foot in front of the other, ready to launch into a sprint towards Julia as she ran away. However, before I could go anywhere Vaughn's hand clamped around my upper arm in a vice-like grip. Turning to stare at him angrily, his own frown silenced me and pressed my lips together in annoyance.

"This doesn't involve you," he said in a low warning tone.

The rest of the group broke into a small quarrel over what happened. As the mothers began arguing and Taro tried to calm them down, Natalie and Pierre moved towards Elliot. Putting a hand on her brother's shoulder, Natalie was about to say something when Elliot shrugged her hand off violent and rose to his feet, turning to his sister clearly enraged.

"You told me that she was definitely going to accept!" he shouted, causing Natalie to start. "You told me that there was no way she would say no! But you knew, didn't you?! You knew she was going to say no before I even bought the ring!"

"No Elliot. It's not like that-" Natalie began in her own defense.

"Fuck you Nat," Elliot raged, throwing the box down at her feet and storming back into town as he wiped his tears away.

"Elliot! I will not tolerate such language!" Taro shouted after him, but decided not to pursue his grandson as he turned to see Natalie in tears. Collapsing to her knees, she picked up the velvet box and hugged it to her chest as Pierre tried to comfort her.

I felt helpless as I watched the two families. It was like watching a train wreck; it was terrible to behold, especially since there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. Mirabelle started back into town too, leaving Pierre and what remained of the family to comfort Natalie. Stood frozen next to Vaughn, I couldn't move a muscle towards my friend and Vaughn wouldn't let me go to Julia. Unable to watch anymore, I turned away and quietly said, "Let's go home." Vaughn nodded and took my arm before saying goodbye to Taro and promising to come over tomorrow for a chat. The older man nodded, a grave expression written into the wrinkled crevices of his face.


	52. I Don't Trust Myself

**Chapter Fifty Two**

_I Don't Trust Myself_

Living as a guest in Lanna's house felt surreal to me. It was a pokey, cottage that was similar to Chelsea's place but on a smaller scale. It wasn't the tidiest home in the world but it was clean and homely, and she'd made sure I was comfortable. When I first arrived we were both unsure about my sleeping arrangements and I volunteered to sleep on the sofa, which she quickly opened out to reveal was a sofa bed. It didn't look very inviting, but it was good enough with all the blankets and pillows she gave me.

For the following couple of weeks I simply lived as a guest in her house. She cooked for me and gave me a place to sleep, never complaining or asking me to repay her in some way, and I found myself reluctant to seduce her. The longer I stayed, the guiltier I felt. My reasons for initially agreeing to stay with her were clearly impure, but after the first couple of days I found it increasingly difficult to make a move on her. Instead I ended up just watching her. We never spent much time together when we were out of the house and doing our own things, but when we were both home I would find myself watching her hurry about cleaning, cooking, whatever. I have to admit, I'd become like some sort of stalker and I was creeping myself out. I had expected her to get freaked out too, but she seemed completely oblivious to the intensity of my stares and acted completely normal as we talked about anything and everything. She told me about her rise and fall from fame, her twisted sounding family and she was very frank and honest with me. I, however, revealed very little about myself. I was far happier listening to her talk than I was talking about myself. I was becoming increasingly aware that the little questions she had started asking me were her attempt at chipping away at my armor, trying to find out what I was hiding underneath all the secrecy. As time went by, the questions become increasingly probing and I started to feel my defenses slowly breaking down. I wanted to tell her. To reveal everything to her. That was when I knew I was in danger.

I decided on the day of the Snow Festival that it was time for me to leave.

After we both agreed not to go to the festival, we sat and watched action movies together for most of the afternoon before she started to get dinner ready as usual. As always, I moved to the kitchen and sat at the table, watching her as she busied herself with preparing the food. She moved around almost like she was dancing, with very light and bouncy steps, and her hair swaying gracefully with each movement she made. She was dressed simply, wearing a red cooking apron, a pair of baggy jeans and a fluffy pink sweater that had a cat's face on it – a completely different image from the girl I first met.

"I'm going to make lasagne tonight," she said with a smile as she pulled the ingredients out of a nearby cupboard.

"I'm looking forward to it. I really enjoyed it the last time you made it," I replied, resting my head in my hand.

"That's why I'm making it again."

I continued to stare at her back until the question that had been playing on my mind finally found its way out of my mouth. "Aren't you tired of me being here?"

She stopped what she was doing. Putting down the pasta sheets, she turned around to face me. Eyes narrowed, mouth pressed into a thin line and her eyebrows drawn together in a frown, she looked dissatisfied and frustrated with my question. She folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head to one side as she asked, "Why are you asking me that? I was the one that asked you to stay, remember?"

"Why do you want me to stay?" I asked.

She let out a sigh and turned back to her preparation, ignoring the question until she'd finished preparing the lasagne and put it in the oven to cook. Once she'd closed the oven door shut she turned back to me questioningly, one eyebrow raised as she considered me. She took a deep breath, inhaling deeply and causing her chest to swell in such a way that I found it difficult to keep my eyes on her face. She noticed this and smiled. Then she started coming towards me.

Anticipation and excitement shot through me as I recognised the expression she was wearing. Turning in my chair as she crossed to my side of the table, I didn't move to stop her as she bent down and took my face in her hands. She stared down at me, frowning thoughtfully as I stared up at her in a complete trance. I was afraid to move, to startle her, and I stayed as still as I could. With exquisite slowness, she brought her lips down on mine and kissed me very gently. Feather light and fleeting, the kiss ended too soon as she pulled back slowly.

"Should have been obvious why I want you to stay," she said quietly. "Don't make me tell you again unless you're willing to take it all the way."

Her words hit me like a sledgehammer. I stared at her with wide eyes as she hovered just a few inches from my face, silently questioning me. God knows I wanted to. It would have taken me no time at all to pick her up, take her to her room, throw her on the bed and ravage her like I knew we both wanted. She was so close. I could smell the scent of her shampoo and I could still taste her on my lips.

"Not yet," I forced myself to say, sitting back in my chair and looking away.

She stood upright. "You don't want to?"

"Oh!" I said vehemently. "Believe me, I want to."

"Then why not?"

Exactly. Why not? Why not just bed her like she knew I wanted to? I shook my head, fighting hard with myself. "Because it's not the right time," I said firmly.

She let out a frustrated tut before saying, "You sound like a virgin clinging to his morals."

"It's not a matter of morals," I replied. I wanted to explain it to her, but I found it hard to articulate how I felt. You see, I actually really liked her. I think back then I was too scared to let her get too close in case I got too attached. If I got attached, I wouldn't want to leave the islands, and the idea of staying somewhere too long spooked me.

We ate dinner in silence after that. She seemed moody and irritable, but she didn't voice her complaints. Bottling up how she felt, she carried on as if nothing had happened. Once we'd tidied the dishes, we both got ready for bed like usual and I was ready to just move past the kiss when suddenly I saw her standing in the doorway of the living room. Dressed in a long night shirt that barely covered her underwear, I got a good eyeful of her bare legs as she stared at me imploringly.

I swallowed hard. "Look Lanna, I-"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything," she said. Coming over, she climbed into bed with me and pulled me into a hug under the blankets as she said, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For asking me to wait," she said, pressing her head against my chest. I unsurely wrapped an arm around her as I tried to steady my breathing. "Most guys don't want to wait with me, so I thought that…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"I'm waiting because I don't want you to do anything you'll regret. I get the feeling you're more fragile then you let on and I've heard enough from Chelsea to know that you probably need a gentleman in your life right now, not just another asshole that wants to get you into bed."

"I guess that's why Chelsea's friends with you," she sighed.

"Actually, I'm not that much of a gentleman," I replied. "I just feel that, with you, I need to be."

She sighed happily upon hearing that and after a few minutes of lying in silence together, I felt her body become lax as she fell asleep. I lay there quietly, trying to memorize the feel of her against me as I fought with myself. Half of me wanted to stay there on the islands, living with Lanna and seeing where it would go. However, the other half, the stronger half, screamed at me to leave. This was not my home. I was staying in the home of a girl that I knew was starting to fall for me and I couldn't keep taking advantage of her kindness anymore; especially since I was beginning to return her feelings.

When I felt that she was in a deep sleep, I slowly extracted myself from her before proceeding to pack my things. I felt an aching longing to return to bed, but I knew I couldn't stay. I wasn't right for her. I was wanted by the police, had no legitimate income and no way to take care of her. Instead, she was taking care of me. It just didn't feel right. Once I'd finished, I stood in the doorway to the living room and stared at her. In the dim light she looked innocent and completely unlike the unstable person she'd been described as being a couple of months ago. Even if I hadn't been told about what happened, I would have slowly realised that she was damaged. Not many normal girls would ask strangers to live in their home for free without any expectation of payment or compensation.

Not leaving a note, I slinked out of the house quietly and once I was outside I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding in. I was overwhelmed by the familiar sense of freedom I always got whenever I was about to move on to something new, but at the same time it was a feeling that was coloured with sadness and regret.

I glanced at my watch. It was four o'clock. I wondered if any boats ran at that time but decided to take my chances at the dock all the same. Heading down the deserted, snow blanketed streets, I continued to rationalise what I was doing in my head. Although part of me had to admit that I was tired of running, I convinced myself that this was the right thing. Not just for me, but for her too. Being a wanted criminal wasn't something I'd be able to hide from her forever.

As I reached the dock I was surprised to spot one of Chelsea's friends, Elliot, sitting over the side with a whiskey bottle next to him.

"Hey Elliot, what are you doing here?" I asked as I walked up to him.

Elliot looked up slowly. His eyes were puffy from crying, his nose almost as red as his hair, and his glasses were a smeared mess. "I got dumped."

"What?"

"Julia dumped me."

The fact that Julia and Elliot were together had always been something that had surprised me, considering how sexy Julia was, but they were childhood sweethearts and looked very much in love last time I checked. After scanning the dock for any sign of potentially outgoing boats, I took a seat next to Elliot and put my duffle bag down. I caught him glance at it but he didn't say anything.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I proposed," he replied pathetically. "After the Snow Festival."

"Really?!" I exclaimed. My mind boggled. Everyone around me was getting married so young. We were only in our early twenties! Why were they all so eager to jump into the matrimony pool?!

Elliot picked up the whiskey bottle and took a long swig from it, some of the liquid spilling from his mouth as he did. "She took one look at the ring and she closed the box." He put the bottle down and took his glasses off to give them a wipe. "She just closed it. Just like that. And then she left. Ran away."

"Have you tried to talk to her about it?"

"No."

"Don't you think you should?"

He screwed his face up in anger. "Why should I? I used all of my savings to buy her the nicest ring I could find. It was perfect for her. Natalie told me she would say yes. I mean… We've been together for as long as I can remember. Since we were kids. She was my world."

"Did you ever talk about marriage with her?" I asked.

"No," he said. "She always seemed kind of jumpy about the mention of it. She understood that it was romantic and she seemed happy for those who did decide to get married, but when it came to the idea of us getting married she always seemed to dismiss the subject." He let out a choking sob. "I thought she loved me."

"I'm sure she does," I tried to console him, giving him a pat on the back. "Maybe she has her own reasons for turning you down. That's why I think you should talk to her."

"It won't do any good." He wiped his nose with the back of his sleeves. "I've never seen her that afraid before. Afraid… Afraid of me. Of that ring. She was absolutely terrified. I know from experience that when she gets that scared of something it's no good trying to force her to confront it head on. I'm just so… angry at her. Angry at her for not talking to me about it."

"Maybe she thought you wouldn't understand?" I reasoned.

"Why wouldn't I understand? I've always listened to her problems before. Always. How is this any different?"

"Because it involves you?"

Elliot thought about this for a moment before picking up the whiskey bottle and taking another swig of it. "Then it really is Natalie's fault. If something she couldn't talk to me about, then it's something she would have talked to Nat about. Nat probably knew about it but didn't warn me."

"You can't blame your sister though." I spotted a boat in the distance heading towards the island and I had to stop myself from breathing a sigh of relief. "Don't worry mate, it'll fix itself. Just give it some time. Just be patient with her. You still love her right?"

"Of course," he replied immediately.

"Then give her time the time she needs. Forcing her to confront the issue isn't going to help," I said. I got up and picked up my bag, slinging it over my shoulder as I added, "And if it's true love, it's worth the wait, right?"

Elliot looked up at me hopefully, but his expression dropped when he noticed my bag again. "You going somewhere?"

"It's time I left," I said. "I'm not cut out for a small town life."

"What about Lanna?"

"That's another reason I need to leave," I replied with a heavy sigh.

Elliot began to scowl. "So you're just going to run away? Like Julia?"

"Exactly," I said with a grin. "Which is why I am in the right position to give you this advice: wait for her. She loves you, so she'll come back to you."

I didn't really care if Elliot believed me or not, but when I saw the faint traces of a smile beginning to surface on his face I felt relieved. I gave him respectful nod before heading over to the fishing boat that I'd seen just pull into the dock. Pulling out my wallet, I extracted a sizeable amount of cash and prepared to bargain for my ticket off those islands.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Shorter chapter, but I felt that the whole issue of Skye staying with Lanna needed to be tied up. I really didn't like writing this chapter, because it made me dislike Skye, but it didn't feel right for him to stay. He has too much baggage and he needs to lose some of it before things with Lanna could progress. Don't worry though, Skye will make an appearance later, but for now Lanna will just have to wait for him to clean up his act. Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm working on the new chapter already so hopefully you won't have to wait so long.


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